How to Become a Trainer
by ReptileGirl497
Summary: In a world where Vikings, dragons and Pokémon co-exist, Hiccup is finally given a partner of his very own. Join him and his friends as they work together to train a Night Fury and hopefully bring peace to their world. Cover by Infernuis-Flashfire.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Snivels

 **This was originally a much longer story, but I split it into different seasons so it doesn't end up ridiculously long in the future. Consider this as a sort of reset.**

* * *

 **The Four Trainers Prophecy**

 _Turn your eyes, your mind, your heart_  
 _To all Arceus can see_  
 _Where shadows are spreading, where heroes are falling_  
 _And no one can ever be free_

 _The Fire of Three burns bright_  
 _The Grass of Five never backs from a fight_  
 _The Water of Six moves fast out of sight_  
 _The Sun in the day, the Moon at night_

 _Open your eyes, your mind, your heart_  
 _To all the creatures that thrive_  
 _Face the darkness united as one_  
 _Or the light will never survive_

* * *

Hiccup had finally received a Pokémon of his very own. It was loyal to him, despite that they had only been together for a day. It followed him wherever he went, and it obeyed his every command, big or small.

But there were a few drawbacks.

It was a Snivy, a Grass-type, which meant that it was weak to fire and aerial attacks. To add insult to injury, all the other teens' Pokémon had already evolved to their second stage. But there was one thing that Hiccup's Pokémon could do that many other Pokémon couldn't.

It could talk.

"Pardon me for asking, but what exactly is this place?"

It was the very early morning, with the light of dawn having yet to appear on the horizon. The Snivy had just managed to gather up the courage to finally ask Hiccup about the island on which they were residing. Hiccup brought him downstairs and set him down on the table before he started to provide the explanation the Snivy required.

"This is Berk," Hiccup said to him, "It's five days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery."

The Snivy shivered at the thought of freezing. Grass-types weren't known for doing well in cold weather, and it certainly didn't help that they were weak to Ice-types.

"It's my village," Hiccup continued, "In a word – sturdy. It's been here for seven generations, but every single building is new. We've got fishing, hunting, and a charming view of the sunsets. The only problems are the pests."

"What kind of pests?" asked the Snivy as he jumped up to grab onto his new trainer's shoulder.

"You see, most places have mice or mosquitoes," Hiccup said, walking to the door. "We have..." He opened the door, and the outline of a huge beast appeared, hovering outside. Noticing them, it spat a wave of fire in their direction. Hiccup barely managed to close the door before he and the Snivy were incinerated. Both of them shared a look of surprise and fear. Hiccup finished his statement in a whisper. "...Dragons."

The two of them made their way outside, looking around and watching the chaos that was taking place. A Monstrous Nightmare scorched the ground, followed by a Salamence, who was quick to do the same by using Flamethrower. A Deadly Nadder swooped down and snatched a sheep in its talons, a Viking jumped up and held onto the sheep as the dragon took off. A Flygon came out of nowhere and began using Dragon Claw to try and get the Viking to let go. A Gronckle then flew by, holding a Viking in its jaws. The Viking hit the Gronckle over and over with a hammer, as a Sliggoo on the Gronckle's back tried to get the Viking to stop.

"Most people would leave," Hiccup explained, "Not us. We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues." Realizing that the Snivy had yet to know his name, despite the fact that they'd had nearly a day to learn about each other, the teen added, "My name is Hiccup."

The Snivy looked at him like he'd just grown a second head. Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Great name, I know. But it's not the worst. Parents believe a hideous name will frighten off gnomes and trolls – like our charming Viking demeanor wouldn't do that."

Hiccup tripped and fell on his back. A Viking warrior suddenly stooped down and howled in his face, then gave them a cheery, "Morning!" Hiccup rolled his eyes again as he got up.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hiccup," the Snivy said politely. "My name is Snivels."

As Hiccup ran, with Snivels perched on his shoulder, Vikings all over yelled to him, "What are you doing here?" and "Get back inside!" Sighing, Hiccup turned a corner, only to have a passing dragon nearly scorch him as it shot fire at the ground in front of him.

A hand flashed out and snagged the back of Hiccup's shirt. He and Snivels found themselves staring at the bearded face of the biggest Viking of them all. "Hiccup!" shouted the large man. "What is he doing out again?! What are you doing out here?! Get inside!"

He sent Hiccup on his way, and Hiccup continued to run, and intimidated Snivels still on his shoulder. "Who was that?" asked the Snivy.

Hiccup replied without hesitation, "That's Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe. They say that when he was a baby, he popped a dragon's head right off of its shoulders."

Snivels gave him a skeptical look. "You believe that?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," Hiccup said with absolute certainty.

The Snivy looked back at the enormous chief and found a hulking white Pokémon standing next to him. "What about the Beartic?"

"Brumous," was the young trainer's simple reply. "His partner."

Avoiding another fire blast from a dragon overhead, Hiccup ducked into the building that he was hoping to find. It was a blacksmith's workshop, and was already occupied.

"Oh, nice of you to join the party!" said the large Viking who was busy at the anvil. One of his hands was missing, replaced by a large hammer. "I thought you'd been carried off!"

Taking off his fur vest and replacing it with an apron, Hiccup replied, "Who, me? No, I'm way to muscular for their taste. They wouldn't know what to do with all this." He flexed his pathetically skinny arms, trying to show at least a little muscle.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?" the Viking asked jokingly as he replaced his hammer with a set of tongs.

Hiccup opened the window to the forge, to be met with a boatload of weapons in need of repair. "The meathead with attitude and interchangeable hands is Gobber," he breathlessly told Snivels, who was still hanging onto his shoulder. "I've been his apprentice ever since I was little – well, littler." Snivels pointed to a Probopass hovering in the corner, prompting the teenaged trainer to add, "That's his partner, Norward."

Outside, there were shouts – battle cries as well as cries of panic. Snivels and Hiccup looked through the window and saw a dragon blast a house, setting it alight. "See?" Hiccup asked Snivels, pointing at the destruction. "Old village, lots and lots of new houses."

Snivels nodded and suddenly swung his head around, apparently catching sight of something. "Who are they?" he asked, pointing to the group of teenagers and Pokémon who had rushed onto the scene to put out the new fire.

"Oh, them?" Hiccup asked, and when Snivels nodded, he continued, "That's Snotlout and his partner, Heat. Fishlegs and his partner, Pad. The twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, and their partners, Sarin and Ricin..."

The group of eight was rushing to put out the fire with buckets of water. A buff teen and his Magmar, a ridiculously chubby teen and his Lombre, a pair of twins fighting over the same bucket with their Nidorino and Nidorina. All at once, the feuding foursome was knocked aside by the appearance of another.

A feisty female Combusken pushed the twins and their partners aside, obviously making room for someone. "That's Blaze, the Combusken," Hiccup said. He then pointed to a new figure that had appeared. The new girl nodded at Blaze in thanks, and then doused out a small fire with her bucket of water, only for a dragon to reignite it, framing her magnificently in an explosion of red and orange flame.

"And that's her trainer," Hiccup paused and then called the girl by her name. "Astrid." He sighed as Astrid and the others rushed off to refill their buckets. Snivels caught a glance of Hiccup's expression and smirked knowingly.

"Oh, their jobs are so much cooler," Hiccup commented, and leaned out the window for a better look at where they were going.

Suddenly, Gobber hoisted him away from the window and plunked him down inside the forge. "Oh, would you let me out, please?!" Hiccup exclaimed. "I need to make my mark!"

Gobber snorted. "You've made plenty of marks," he told Hiccup, jabbing him gently with his tongs. "All in the wrong places."

Before Gobber could continue the conversation, Hiccup jumped back in. "Please, two minutes," he pleaded. "I'll kill a dragon, and my life will get infinitely better. I might even get a date!"

That last part made Snivels chuckle.

It was Gobber's turn to roll his eyes as he made a list on his fingers: "You can't lift a hammer, you can't swing an axe, you can't even throw one of these!" He held up a bola, which was grabbed by a Viking outside the window. The Viking threw the bola at a passing dragon. The weapon snared the dragon's legs and caused it to plummet to the ground with a dull thud.

"Ah," Hiccup said, moving over to a wooden contraption on wheels – one of his many inventions. "That is why this will throw it for me," he finished smugly, just before it unfolded and shot another bola at Norward. Unfazed by the attack, the Probopass folded up and went to sleep, clearly annoyed.

Gobber looked like he had enough. "Now this right here is what I'm talking about!"

"A mild calibration issue," Hiccup tried to explain, only to be cut off as Gobber continued.

"If you want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop all...this." He gestured with his hand and tongs.

"You just pointed to all of me!" Hiccup said, appalled.

"Yes, that's it!" Gobber said in a satisfied way. "Stop being all of you!"

Hiccup made an attempt to look intimidating, something that didn't exactly come naturally. "You, sir, are playing a dangerous game," he warned ominously. "Keeping this much raw...Viking-ness...contained – there will be consequences!"

Gobber didn't look convinced, naturally. "I'll take my chances," he said, bored. Then he handed Hiccup a dulled sword and ordered, "Sword. Sharpen. Now."

Hiccup groaned under the weight of the sword as Snivels rejoined him. "One day I'll get out there," Hiccup muttered to his partner. "Because killing a dragon is _everything_ around here." Snivels listened as his new trainer explained to him the different kinds of dragons. "A Deadly Nadder or Flygon head is sure to get me at least noticed," Hiccup said as a group of the bird-like dragons, and their aides surrounded a sheep barn, looking for a way in.

"Gronckles and Sliggoo are tough," Hiccup continued, "Taking down one of each of those would definitely get me a girlfriend." Hearing that, Snivels tried once again to hold back a laugh. As Snivels tried not to laugh, a group of the portly dragons, with the snail-like Dragon-Types on their backs, grabbed some fish in their jaws and flew off like overgrown bumblebees.

"A Hideous Zippleback and a Zweilous? Exotic. Two heads each, twice the status." A dual-headed dragon blew a building to smithereens – one head sprayed flammable gas all over the vicinity, and the other ignited it with a spark or two from the back of its throat. It flapped off, its destructive work done. Its aid, Zweilous, rode on its back, using Protect to block off the flying debris.

"And then, there's Salamence and the Monstrous Nightmare. Only the best Vikings go after those. The Monstrous Nightmare has a nasty habit of setting itself on fire. And Salamence is usually the one that aids it." As Stoick the Vast stood at his battle station atop a massive catapult, he suddenly felt heat and light erupt from beneath him. Looking down, he saw that the structure had begun to burn rapidly, courtesy of a Monstrous Nightmare. Its flaming body burst through the wood, ending up with its reptilian muzzle right next to him.

Taking his large hammer in hand, Stoick repeatedly beat the dragon on its horned face. It snapped its huge jaws at him, the long, thin fangs missing him by inches. Deciding that there was better prey than this, the Monstrous Nightmare flew off, the fires that wrapped its body extinguishing.

"But the ultimate prize is the dragon that no one's ever seen before. We call it the..." All of a sudden, there was a piercing screech that rang out above the noise of battle, getting steadily louder and louder. "NIGHT FURY!" someone called in a panic. "Get down!" yelled someone else. All of the Vikings ducked, and a huge burst of blue flame shot down from the sky and exploded, taking an entire catapult down. There was a whistling noise as the unknown dragon shot by overhead, too fast and too dark to be seen.

Hiccup continued in a whisper to Snivels, now thoroughly spooked. "This dragon doesn't have a partner, it never steals food, never reveals itself, and" - another catapult exploded – "never misses. No one has ever killed a Night Fury. That's why I'm going to be the first."

Gobber suddenly abandoned his tongs and replaced them with a sharp axe. "Man the fort, Hiccup," he ordered. "They need me out there." Just before he stepped outside, he told them, "Stay. Put. There." Hiccup just looked at him. "You know what I mean." Then with a battle cry, he limped into the fray on his leg and a half.

As soon as he left their line of sight, Hiccup grabbed his homemade weapon and wheeled it to the door. "Let's go kill a dragon," he said to Snivels, and rushed outside, towing his invention before him like an oddly shaped wheelbarrow.

Soon, the two of them had reached Berk's outskirts. It was completely quiet, and there were no dragons in sight. Hiccup rapidly set up his weapon, which he called "the Mangler". Snivels perched silently on Hiccup's shoulder, his eyes scanning the dark skies. "Give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at…" Hiccup muttered, pointing the Mangler's targeting scope at an old, abandoned catapult.

They waited. There was no movement in the skies – or was there? Hiccup suddenly saw part of the night sky move, blocking out the stars as it flew. Instinctively, he knew that this was the dragon that he had been waiting for. The Night Fury.

A screech rang out as it prepared to strike. Diving towards the catapult, the Night Fury's shriek reached its peak as it spat a bolt of blue fire straight at the structure. The flame hit its mark dead on, tearing through the wood and exploding violently. Desperately, Hiccup fired a bola at the dragon, the force of the shot throwing him and Snivels backward. He was already waiting for the realization that his shot had missed.

There was a shriek, and the sound of rope slamming against flesh, and the outline of something caught in the bola began to fall off into the far-off forest. "I hit it," Hiccup breathed. "Yes, I hit it!" Snivels jumped off of Hiccup's shoulder to catch a glimpse of the dragon as it fell. "Did anyone else see that?" Hiccup called out, only to see a huge dragon clamber up over a hill, crushing the Mangler under its foot, and land next to him. A Monstrous Nightmare. And right next to it was a Salamence. "Except for you guys," Hiccup said with a groan.

Snivels jumped back onto Hiccup's shoulder as he took off running, the Nightmare and Salamence right behind him. The two friends managed to hide behind a giant torch, and the Nightmare's next blast hit the torch instead of them.

Hiccup cautiously poked his head back around the torch, now going up in flames, trying to see if the dragon was still there. It wasn't – but what he didn't realize was that it was right behind him, ready to bite his head off.

But it never got the chance. A sudden movement caught Hiccup's eye, and he turned to witness a shocking sight. Stoick the Vast had appeared from nowhere and was now battling the dragon in one-on-one combat, with Brumous fighting the Salamence nearby. The Monstrous Nightmare shot a pathetic blast of its fire, which didn't even reach the chief. The next blast was nothing more than a few embers.

"You're all out," growled Stoick, before letting loose with a series of kicks and punches. The Nightmare, deciding not to risk a fight without any of its fire, left. Salamence noticed its partner flying off, and took off after it.

Then Stoick turned his attention towards the torch, which had been severely weakened by the Monstrous Nightmare's fire. It snapped, then fell to the ground. Hiccup knew that he had been clearly revealed standing behind it. "And there's one more thing that you need to know…" he muttered to Snivels.

The great bowl of fire that sat upon the torch dropped off and rolled away, doing major damage as it went. Vikings, Pokémon, and dragons alike scrambled to get away from the runaway torch. Both Hiccup and Snivels winced as the torch continued to cause damage throughout the village. Hiccup glanced at Stoick, catching sight of his firm gaze. Hiccup sighed and apologized.

"Sorry...Dad."

* * *

 **So there you have it. Vikings and Pokémon co-exist, and so far Hiccup and Astrid's partners are the only Pokémon that have actual names. You'll be finding out more about Snivels and Blaze in the next chapter. In the meantime, leave a review and tell me what you think. Should I continue? Let me know ASAP!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Night Fury

 **We'll be finding out more about Snivels and Blaze in this chapter, including their opinions on the war, and a few other things. Thanks to those who left a review, or just followed and/or favorited. Also, I moved this story onto the How to Train Your Dragon Archive because I want to get more reviews for it. Getting reviews to me means that there are people that actually like my stories. If I don't get many reviews, it makes me think that no one likes them.  
**

* * *

The ball of fire that had once set atop the torch that was now knocked down continued to roll throughout the village. It rapidly approached a couple of Vikings that had trapped a group of Deadly Nadders and Flygon in a net. The minute they saw the fire coming their, way they ran off, leaving the Nadders and Flygon free to escape. And escape they did, using the net to carry off a small herd of sheep that had also been under the net. Satisfied with their catches, the dragons all flew off, to where no one knew.

The Vikings and their Pokémon all watched as the dragons left, all either disappointed or frustrated. The only one who didn't seem worried was Snivels, who was, believe it or not, waving goodbye to the dragons.

Stoick was the first to take his gaze off of the dragons, and continued to glare at Hiccup. No wanting to get in trouble, Snivels quickly retreated, climbing down off of Hiccup's shoulder (the look that Brumous was giving him wasn't really installing a lot of confidence either). Standing alone in the middle of the plaza, Hiccup said quickly, "Okay, but I hit a Night Fury."

Stoick said nothing, grabbing Hiccup by the back of his vest and hauling him off to who knew where. "It's not like the last few times, Dad! I mean I really, actually hit it!" Hiccup protested, "You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot! It went down just off Raven Point, so let's get a search party out there before it…"

Then Stoick boomed, "STOP! Just...stop." Hiccup immediately went quiet and waited for him to finish. He didn't have to wait long. "Every time you step outside, disaster follows! Can you not see that I have bigger problems? Winter is almost here and I have an entire village to feed!"

Hiccup glanced quickly at the crowd that had gathered and tried to relieve the tension by saying, "Well between you and me, the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" There were murmurs of annoyance amongst the adults.

"This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" Stoick said sharply. "Why can't you follow the simplest orders?"

Hiccup hastened to defend himself. "I can't stop myself! I see a dragon and I have to just...kill it. You know, it's who I am, Dad."

Stoick finally sighed. "You're many things, Hiccup," he said quietly. "But a dragon-killer is not one of them. Now get back to the house." He turned to Gobber, who had joined them in the middle of their argument. "Make sure he gets there," he ordered him. "I have this mess to clean up."

Gobber led Hiccup off, Snivels rejoining them and climbing up onto Hiccup's shoulder once again. They passed the other teens and their partners, Snotlout and the twins laughing and making Hiccup feel miserable. "Quite the performance," smirked Tuffnut, his twin sister snickering in the background. Snivels glared at them.

"I have never seen anyone mess up so badly," Snotlout chuckled, "You know, that helped!"

"Thank you, thank you. I was trying," Hiccup said. Gobber pushed Snotlout to the ground, still laughing nervously.

Snivels scoffed, "The charm never stops around here does it?"

Many of the Vikings gasped at what they had heard. Both Stoick and Gobber stopped walking and stood with matching looks of shock. "Did that thing just _talk_?" Stoick asked in disbelief.

Hiccup groaned, "Snivels."

The Snivy's eyes widened as he realized what he had done. "Uh, I mean, uh...oops." None of the other Vikings had known that Snivels could talk, and hearing his comment was enough to surprise them. Stoick just shook his head and continued to walk off. Gobber resumed leading Hiccup to his house, keeping a nervous eye on Snivels. The young Snivy gulped nervously.

As they reached Hiccup's house, Hiccup said dejectedly, "I really hit one." Gobber didn't reply.

Hiccup went on, "He never listens."

This time Gobber responded, "It runs in the family."

Ignoring this, Hiccup continued, "And when he does, it's with this disappointed scowl, like someone skimped on meat in his sandwich."

Snivels jumped off of Hiccup's shoulder and watched as Hiccup paraded around, doing a pretty good impression of his father. "Excuse me, barmaid! I'm afraid you've brought me the wrong offspring! I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts, and glory on the side! This here, this is talking fishbone!"

Snivels couldn't help snickering at what Hiccup was doing. He could almost imagine Stoick saying those things. He immediately stopped snickering when he noticed Gobber's expression.

Gobber tried to calm Hiccup down with a gesture and a chuckle. "Now you're thinking about this all wrong," he said. "It's not so much what'cha look like, it's what's _inside_ that he can't stand."

Like that helped. "Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup said sarcastically.

Gobber went on in a more serious tone, "Look, the point is, stop trying so hard to be something you're not." Hiccup sighed resignedly and moaned, "I just want to be one of you guys..." Then he opened the door and walked inside.

But the instant Gobber left, Hiccup snuck out the back and headed for the woods. He wanted to check something out.

No sooner after he left, Snivels ran off as well. There was someone that he needed to talk to.

* * *

Meanwhile, Blaze was examining herself. She was very picky about her appearance and preferred to look her best. Her fireproof fur and feathers were unscathed, and her claws all seemed to be in good condition.

"Blaze?"

Acting on Fighting-type instinct, the Combusken spun around, punching and kicking furiously. The Snivy that had approached her from behind barely managed to avoid the blows. "Stop, wait!" he shouted. Then more gently, "It's me - Snivels."

Blaze stared at him for a long moment before her eyes lit up with recognition. "Snivels?" she asked, but not in the Pokémon language. She was talking like a human. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah," said Snivels, nodding. "Yeah, it's really me."

The Combusken immediately dropped her guard, smiling like a maniac. "Wow! I don't...how did you get here? Where have you been?"

"Oh, you know, here and there," the Snivy said nonchalantly. "But you - you've evolved! I didn't even recognize you!" Then his expression changed to confusion. "Wait a minute, you can talk?"

"Yeah," Blaze said with a nod, "My trainer kept telling me to watch and learn, so I did."

"That's how I learned, too," admitted Snivels. "But not with my trainer, obviously. I only just met him yesterday, after all. So, do you talk to your trainer?"

Blaze sighed. "Astrid may be my trainer, but I doubt she'll actually listen to me if I do talk to her."

A long, awkward silence followed.

"So, anyway, about our trainers..." Snivels began, a smug grin on his face. "Have you noticed how Hiccup looks at Astrid?" he asked. When Blaze nodded, he continued, "Looks like the little guy's got a big crush."

"I've noticed many times," Blaze said, "But that's one of those things I'm _definitely_ not supposed to mention - 'Hey, there's this one guy who's really into you that you might like if you really get to know him.'"

Snivels laughed, "I see you haven't changed a bit. Even though we haven't seen each other since..." He trailed off, his smile turning into a sad frown.

"That one island," Blaze finished. "I thought I was the only one who made it out of there."

"So did I," Snivels said. "So, what do we do about the dragons?"

"As long as you and I both know the truth, there's still hope," Blaze said, "But until then, we'll have to try and bear with these brutes."

Snivels nodded. "Here's hoping you're leaving our trainers out of that category." He then ran off to find Hiccup.

Blaze's eyes followed Snivels as he left. _He really has a lot of potential,_ she thought to herself, _He's the perfect friend for Hiccup_.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, Stoick was hosting a large meeting with all of the other Viking adults and their Pokémon partners.

"Either we finish them or they'll finish us!" Stoick proclaimed to the rest of the Vikings. They were gathered around the central fire pit, where they always went to discuss their problems and how to solve them. Needless to say, most of the time they were there to complain about the dragon infestation.

"It's the only way we'll be rid of them," the chief continued, slamming a hand down on the table. "If we find the nest and destroy it, the dragons will leave. They'll find another home." He took a knife and plunged it into a region on the map in front of him, a foggy, uncharted area where the dragon nest was said to be. "One more search, before the ice sets in!"

Someone on the other side called, "Those ships never come back!" There were mutterings of agreement from everyone else.

"We're Vikings!" Stoick said exasperatedly. "It's an occupational hazard! Now who's with me?"

No one spoke up, although there was an increase in the muttering. "All right," Stoick decided, standing to his full height. "Those who stay will look after Hiccup." Everyone instantly raised their hand to volunteer. "Now that's more like it," Stoick said, half to himself. Brumous grunted in approval.

As everyone left, Stoick and Brumous walked up to Gobber, who was sitting near the back of the room with his Probopass. "I'll pack my undies," he said, getting ready to leave as well. "No," Stoick told him. "I need you to stay and train some new recruits."

Gobber rolled his eyes and fiddled with his tankard-arm. "Perfect," he muttered. "And while I'm busy, Hiccup can cover the stall! Molten steel, razor-sharp blades, lots of time to himself...what could possibly go wrong?"

Stoick sighed. Sometimes it was difficult being the chief, especially when one of the biggest problems was that of his own son. "What am I going to do with him, Gobber?" he asked. Brumous grunted as he sat down next to Norward. He had a feeling this going to take a while.

"Put him in training," Gobber suggested.

Stoick thought he was joking for a minute. "I'm serious," he told Gobber.

"So am I," was the blacksmith's answer.

Now Stoick was astonished. "He'll be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage."

"Oh, you don't know that," Gobber said dismissively, going back to his drink.

"I do, actually," Stoick insisted.

"No you don't," Gobber retorted, to which Stoick said again, "Yes, I do."

Gobber turned back to Stoick and said with emphasis, "No, you don't!"

Stoick got up and started pacing. "You know what he's like...From the time he could crawl he's been...different...He doesn't listen...he has the attention span of a sparrow…I take him fishing and he goes hunting for...for trolls!"

Gobber cut in emphatically, "Trolls exist! They steal your socks. But only the left ones. What's with that?"

Stoick started a speech. "When I was a boy" – Gobber rolled his eyes again and said under his breath, "Here we go..." – "My father told me to bash my head against a rock, and I did it. I thought he was crazy, but I didn't question it. And you know what happened?"

Gobber, who had lost the stone that he liked to carry in his empty tooth socket, guessed sarcastically, "You got a headache."

Ignoring this, Stoick continued with his story. "That rock split in two. It taught me what a Viking can do, Gobber. He can crush mountains, level forests, tame seas! Even as a boy, I knew what I was, what I had to become...Hiccup is not that boy."

There was silence from Gobber, before he said firmly, "You can't stop him, Stoick. You can only prepare him." Stoick considered this for a moment as Gobber went on. "I know it seems hopeless, but the truth is, you won't always be around to protect him. He's going to get out there again! He's probably out there now!"

* * *

Meanwhile, out in the middle of the forest, Hiccup was trying to find the Night Fury he had shot down. He peered intently at the little book he held in his hand. In it, he had sketched a simple map of the Berk woods, and was now trying to determine where the Night Fury had crashed. So far, he had mapped out more than a dozen possible impact sites, and none had proven correct.

Scribbling angrily with his stick of charcoal, he resignedly snapped the book shut and put it away in the pocket of his vest. "Oh, the gods hate me," he mumbled, walking aimlessly through the forest, "Some people lose their knife or their mug. No, not me! I manage to lose an entire dragon?!" He decided to take out his frustration on a tree branch in his way, slapping it with all of his might. Unfortunately for him, it slapped him back, causing him to cringe.

Something made him stop and look. The tree that the branch belonged to had split in two, with one half standing upright, and the other bending down towards the ground. It looked as if the tree had been struck by lightning, except that it wasn't burnt.

There was something else that was suspicious. There was a huge track of plowed earth running beyond the tree and vanishing over the next hill. It was as if something had plunged out of the sky and violently skidded to a halt.

Hiccup decided to investigate. Hopping over the fallen tree, he followed the track of dirt and mud to the top of the hill. Rounding an exposed tree root, he turned back to the hill – and saw a black shape sitting in the middle of a clearing.

Instantly, he hit the ground by reflex, terrified that the dragon had noticed him. He didn't hear any reaction though, so he cautiously peeked over the top of the hill. The Night Fury wasn't moving, as if it were unconscious...or dead.

Gripping his knife with such force, Hiccup ducked and ran as fast as he could for the nearest boulder. Pressing his back to it, he cautiously slid around it and risked another peek. The dragon hadn't moved.

Hiccup suddenly felt a surge of courage. Boldly stepping up to the dragon, he took the time to examine it. It was pitch-black all over, with stubby talons and a finned head. Its wings were broad and quite majestic, even while pinned to its body with the bola he had shot at it.

"I did it," Hiccup murmured. "Oh, yes, this...this fixes everything! Yes, I have brought down this mighty beast..." He placed his foot on the dragon's body, but then he threw himself against the boulder as it suddenly moved, kicking feebly at his touch.

Breathing hard, Hiccup saw the Night Fury regain its consciousness, taking long, deep breaths. He held his knife out in front of him, prepared to defend himself if it suddenly attacked. He gave the Night Fury the once-over, trying to determine where to strike in order to kill it. He suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched, and he soon found himself looking into the dragon's vivid green eyes.

They both held each other's gaze for a few seconds; Hiccup was fascinated, and the dragon seemed curious. Hiccup quickly looked away and readied his knife. "I'm gonna kill you, dragon," he muttered. "Then I'm...I'm gonna cut out your heart and take it to my father."

There was no response from the Night Fury. "I'm a Viking," Hiccup said simply, then glared at the dragon. "I'm a Viking!" he repeated, raising his voice. Then, knife clutched in both of his hands, he held it high above his head, prepared to end the dragon's life with one stab.

But something made him stop. He once again looked into the Night Fury's eyes; they were wide, as if the dragon was afraid. They widened up a little more as the dragon waited in anticipation for what he would do.

Cringing, Hiccup squinted his eyes shut and once again raised his knife high. He heard the dragon's moan, and the gentle thud as its head slumped to the ground. It had given up, and was waiting for him to claim its life.

As for Hiccup, he was trying desperately to summon the courage to bring the blade down. But...he couldn't do it. No matter how hard he tried to forget, the image of the Night Fury's innocent, frightened eyes couldn't escape his memory.

Finally, he gave up, just as the dragon had. He let his hand drop to his side, still clutching the knife. "I did this..." he whispered, voice heavy with guilt. He turned to leave, then glanced back at the helpless dragon. It was just lying there, waiting for its life to end. The pathetic sight made Hiccup suck in a breath in preparation for what he was going to do next.

He rushed back to the Night Fury's body and began cutting at the ropes that bound it. He felt it tense as it realized what was going on. There were only three more ropes to cut... Now two... Now only one...

And then it pounced on Hiccup, driving him to the ground and pinning him under its claws. Gasping for breath, Hiccup looked up into the dragon's face. No longer were its eyes wide and scared. Now they were narrowed and focused, and carrying with them an undercurrent of ferocity.

The eyes of a true predator.

They gazed at each other once more, this time with their positions switched – with the Night Fury standing over Hiccup, preparing to finish him off. It raised its head and snarled, and Hiccup braced himself for the pain and the darkness.

The dragon lowered its head and produced an ear-splitting screech that echoed in Hiccup's ears long after it had dissipated. Then the Night Fury tore off into the woods, free once more. Hiccup saw its silhouette through the thickening mist as it suddenly careened into a tree. A second later, it was gone.

Hiccup numbly picked up his knife and pocketed it, then began his walk back to the village. However, five steps later, he fainted.

* * *

Snivels, who had been hiding in the underbrush when Hiccup found the Night Fury, was amazed by what he had seen. Hiccup had the defenseless dragon at his mercy, and the dragon seemed to be afraid. When Snivels saw Hiccup raise the knife, his heart skipped a beat. "Don't do it..." he muttered under his breath, "Please, don't do it!"

As if Hiccup had heard him, he had dropped the knife and instead cut the dragon free. When the dragon pounced on Hiccup and roared, Snivels covered his ears as the screeches of the dragon carried far and wide. He could only hope that no one at the village heard it.

And after Hiccup had fainted, Snivels rushed out of his hiding place and, with difficulty, began to drag his trainer in the direction of the village.

* * *

 **So there you have it. Both Snivels and Blaze can talk, and they're friends, too. They also seem to be the only ones who know the truth about the dragon raids. Review, follow, or favorite, and I'll update ASAP!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Dragon Training Day One

 **I'll admit, although crossovers don't get as many reviews as the normal ones, I always look forward to getting one or two on this story. If you would like to comment on the plot, and its changes, you can leave a review if you want.**

* * *

It had taken nearly all day, but Snivels had somehow managed to drag Hiccup all the way back to his house. It was true, Hiccup didn't really weigh that much, but with Snivels being smaller than he was, it felt like Hiccup weighed nearly as much as a Graveler. _I guess it could be worse,_ Snivels thought to himself, _At least I didn't have to drag Stoick_. That would have been like trying to drag a Snorlax around, which was a near-impossible task.

He tried to wake up his trainer. "Hiccup, come on wake up! We're at your house, come on! Wake up!" But Hiccup stayed unconscious. Snivels then leaned in really close, and screamed in his ear, "HICCUP!"

That did it. Hiccup awoke with a start. "Snivels? What's going on? Where are we?"

Snivels pointed at the Haddock's house. "We're back home," he said.

Hiccup looked at Snivels. "How did we get here?" he asked.

"I had to drag you all the way over here," Snivels said.

"By yourself?" Hiccup asked, astounded. When Snivels nodded, he sighed. "We'll talk about this later. I have to get up to my room before Dad notices I'm gone."

Moving quietly, Hiccup and Snivels sneaked in through the back door. Both Stoick and Brumous were crouched over the fire, their backs to the two misfits. Opening and closing the door quietly, Hiccup quickly made his way toward the stairs, with Snivels riding on his shoulder. Hiccup had just started climbing up the stairs when Stoick suddenly said, "Hiccup."

Hiccup froze and replied, "Dad! ...Uh, I need to talk to you, Dad."

Stoick turned to face his son, rubbing his hands together. "I need to speak with you too, son."

They both took a deep breath and spoke, unfortunately at the exact same time. "I think it's time you learn to fight dragons." "I don't want to learn to fight dragons." They both looked at each other with confusion and said, "What?"

Snivels said nothing, silenced by Brumous's glare.

Stoick looked awkwardly at Hiccup. "You go first," he said.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, you go first," he insisted as he climbed back down the stairs. Snivels shook his head, trying to tell Hiccup that wasn't a good idea. But Hiccup paid no attention to Snivels.

Stoick sighed. "You get your wish," he said, "Dragon training. You and your Snivy start in the morning."

Hearing this, Hiccup grew very alarmed. "Oh man, I should have gone first," he said, "Because, you know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings. But do we have enough...bread-making Vikings? Or small, home repair, Vikings?..."

He was interrupted by Snivels. "I believe what he's trying to say is that..."

But Stoick interrupted him by giving Hiccup an axe and telling him, "You'll need this."

Trying desperately not to drop the heavy axe, Hiccup finally said, "I don't want to fight dragons."

Thinking that Hiccup was joking, Stoick laughed. "Come on! Yes, you do!" he said.

Hiccup sighed. "Rephrase," he said, "Dad, I can't kill dragons!"

Stoick shook his head, still laughing. "But you will kill dragons," he said.

"No, I'm pretty extra-sure that I won't!" Hiccup nearly yelled. Snivels could sense the fear in Hiccup's voice. He was getting really desperate.

Stoick's expression grew suddenly grim. "It's time, Hiccup."

"Can you not hear me?!" Hiccup asked, his voice breaking with fear.

"He has a point," Snivels finally spoke up, "Not everyone is meant to do certain things, especially if they're not good at it. I mean, do you really think that it's a good idea to send us into...?"

"This is _serious_." Stoick interrupted. Snivels immediately stopped talking and jumped down onto the floor. Stoick took the axe from Hiccup. "When you carry this axe," he said, "You carry all of us with you." He handed the axe back to Hiccup. "That means you walk like us," he paused before adjusting Hiccup's posture, "You talk like us, you think like us. No more of...this." He gestured to his son.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and said, "You just gestured to all of me."

Stoick's expression didn't change. "Deal?" he asked.

"This conversation is feeling very one-sided," Hiccup complained.

"Deal?!" Stoick asked again, more harshly.

Hiccup sighed, and then said reluctantly, "Deal." He knew that he would later regret it.

But Stoick was satisfied. He swung a basket onto his shoulder and muttered, "Good." He reached for his helmet, which Brumous handed to him. "Train hard," he said as he and Brumous headed for the door. "We'll be back...probably."

"And we'll be here...maybe." Hiccup said. Snivels climbed back up onto his shoulder as Stoick and Brumous exited. The Beartic stopped suddenly and turned around, glaring at Snivels.

The Snivy shrank down in fear. "Okay, that's not really installing a lot of confidence," he said.

Brumous just grunted as Stoick shut the door.

* * *

The next morning, Gobber and the teens, as well as their Pokémon, stood at the entrance to the training arena. Gobber pushed the iron gate upwards, allowing it to slide easily out of his way. "Welcome to dragon training!" he called in a jolly voice, allowing the trainees to walk past him into the arena. "No turning back," Astrid murmured as she and Blaze led the way for the others.

The teens and their Pokémon found themselves gazing in wonder at the immense, chain-linked net that covered the arena, preventing the caged dragons that were used in training from flying away.

"I hope I get some serious burns!" said Tuffnut with his characteristic sadistic grin.

"I'm hoping for some mauling...like on my shoulders or lower back," his sister Ruffnut piled on.

"Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it," agreed Astrid.

"Yeah, no kidding right?" Hiccup said from the back of the group, making everyone turn to look at him. "Pain...love it!"

There were a few groans. "Who let him in?" asked Tuffnut exasperatedly.

"Let's get started!" shouted Gobber, pulling the gate back down, sealing them all in. "The recruits who do best," he continued, "Will win the honor of killing their first dragons in front of the entire village."

Snotlout sneered, "Hiccup already killed a Night Fury, so does that disqualify him?" The twins both burst out laughing. Hiccup did his best to ignore them.

The teens all lined up in front of the cages. Hiccup and Snivels ended up being next to Fishlegs and Pad. "Behind these doors," lectured Gobber, "Are just a few of the many species you'll learn to fight! The Deadly Nadder and Flygon..."

To which Fishlegs muttered "Armor: 16, Pokémon weak to Ice-Types."

"...The Hideous Zippleback and the Zweilous..."

"Plus 11 stealth times 2, Pokémon immune to Psychic-Types."

"...The Monstrous Nightmare and the Salamence..."

"Firepower: 15, Pokémon immune to Ground-Types."

"...The Terrible Terror..."

"Attack: 8, Venom: 12!"

"Can you stop that?!" Gobber shouted before concluding, "And the Gronckle and Sliggoo."

"Jaw Strength: 8, Pokémon hard to grip," Fishlegs muttered.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Snotlout said. "Aren't you gonna teach us first?!"

Gobber smirked and adjusted his grip on the lever. "I believe in learning on the job," he snickered, before pushing down on the lever.

A Gronckle burst from out of the cage, snarling and flying around at high speed, a Sliggoo riding on its back. Everyone scattered as the dragon bumbled around clumsily. "Today's lesson is about survival," Gobber shouted over the sudden din. "If you get blasted" – he paused as the Gronckle, unable to turn in time, slammed into a wall – "You're dead! Quick, what's the first thing you're going to need?"

Hiccup shouted sarcastically, "A doctor?" Fishlegs worriedly guessed, "Plus 5 speed?" Astrid, naturally, got the correct answer. "A shield!" she shouted, to which Gobber directed the teens and Pokémon towards the rack bearing the various shields.

"Your most important piece of equipment is your shield," Gobber instructed. "If you have to make a choice between a sword and a shield, take the shield!"

Naturally, Tuffnut, Ruffnut, Sarin and Ricin began fighting over a shield that they wanted. Sarin and his sister gripped the shield in their teeth, trying to help their trainers pull it out of the other's grasp. "Take that one," suggested Tuff. "It's got a flower on it. Girls like flowers."

His sister suddenly tore the shield from his grasp and with help from Ricin, slammed it on top of his head. "Oops," she said with mock regret. "Now this one has blood on it."

None of them noticed that the Gronckle was zeroing in on them until it was too late. It shot a fireball that exploded against the shield, throwing them to the ground. The Sliggoo on the Gronckle's back then hit their Nidorino and Nidorina with Dragon Breath. "Tuffnut! Ruffnut! Sarin! Ricin! You're all out!" Gobber yelled as they got up in a daze.

"Those shields are good for another thing," he continued. "Noise! Make lots of it to throw off a dragon's aim!" Everyone simultaneously began to bash their weapons against their shields, the sudden noise causing the Gronckle to shake its head in confusion.

"Now," Gobber kept up the talk while the teens and their Pokémon avoided the Gronckle. "Every dragon has a limited number of shots. How many do a Gronckle and a Sliggoo have all together?"

"15?" Snotlout guessed. "No, 26!" Fishlegs shouted. Gobber nodded. "Correct, 26. That's 6 for the Gronckle and 20 for the Sliggoo."

The Gronckle fired another fireball, which crashed into Fishlegs's shield, shattering it. Immediately after, Sliggoo hit the exposed Pad with Dragon Breath, paralyzing it instantly. "Fishlegs, Pad, out!" Gobber called as Fishlegs grabbed his Lombre and made a run for it. "Of course, Dragon Breath can paralyze the opponent!" Fishlegs said as he ran for cover.

Hiccup was hiding behind the shield rack, Snivels perched on his shoulder. "Hiccup, get in there!" Gobber demanded. Hiccup was about to get out when another fireball from the Gronckle hit the wall inches from him and Snivels. Hiccup dove back into his hiding spot without hesitation.

After making sure that the Gronckle's attention was focused elsewhere, Hiccup cautiously crawled out into the open. As he did so, the Gronckle fired another blast at a distracted Snotlout and blew his shield to bits, exposing his Magmar, who was blasted with Dragon Breath. "Snotlout! Heat! You're both done!" called Gobber.

Astrid and Blaze had both dodged the blast, and they both found themselves next to Hiccup and Snivels. "So I guess it's just you and me, huh?" Hiccup asked.

Too late, Astrid's eyes widen and she replied, "Nope. Just you!" She and Blaze quickly ran away, and before he could do anything to stop it, the Gronckle blasted Hiccup's shield, knocking it out of his hand. The force of the shot also caused Snivels to fall off of Hiccup's shoulder and onto the rock-hard ground.

"One shot left!" cried Gobber as Hiccup ran after his smoking shield. He could hear the Gronckle's thrumming wings as it and the Sliggoo closed in on him. Veering to the side, it blocked his way, separating him from the shield and chasing him towards a wall. The Sliggoo somehow slid off of the Gronckle's back and landed nearby.

The Gronckle easily pinned Hiccup against the wall. Hovering on the spot, it opened its mouth to blast Hiccup with its last shot, and he braced himself...

...Only to hear the deafening boom of the fireball hitting the wall next to him. Hiccup opened his eyes and saw two green vines wrapped around the Gronckle's ears. The Gronckle turned to see Snivels, using Vine Whip to grip its ears. He had used it to pull the Gronckle's head upwards, making it miss its mark.

The triumphant feeling Snivels felt did not last very long. The Gronckle swung its head around, lifting Snivels off of the ground and slamming him into the wall. The vines immediately released their grip around the Gronckle's ears as Snivels slid down the wall, and slumped to the ground, the vines lying limply beside him.

"Are you okay, Snivels?" Hiccup called out.

In response, Snivels tried to push himself up, but he ended up slumping back to the ground. "No," he replied.

The Gronckle growled at Snivels, but was stopped by the Sliggoo. " _Sliggoo, Sliggoo, Sligg, Sliggoo!_ " it said. The Gronckle nodded and then hovered back into its cage, grabbing the Sliggoo expertly in its claws while doing so. "That's right," Gobber said as he chased them in, "Go back to bed you overgrown sausage and snail!"

Gobber locked the door and muttered, "You'll get another chance, don't you worry." Then, turning to the teens and their partners, he wrapped up his lesson. "Remember, a dragon will always... _always..._ "

He hoisted Hiccup up by the arm and finished in a deadly whisper, "...go for the kill."

As Gobber and the others walked out of the arena, Hiccup remembered something about the Night Fury he had freed in the woods.

* * *

Crouching over the remains of the ropes that had once trapped the Night Fury, Hiccup murmured, "So why didn't you?" Getting up again, he squinted through the trees, recalling the sight of the Night Fury escaping in that very same direction. Snivels was standing nearby, looking at the ropes.

Hiccup made the decision to see where the dragon had gotten to. He walked deeper into the forest, trying to figure out the path the dragon might have taken. Surprisingly, he noticed that it had left a clear path behind – when he looked closely, several trees looked like they had been damaged.

The pattern continued on in a mostly straight direction, so he followed it. Briefly, he wondered why a dragon would fly into so many trees when it could have avoided them.

The journey ended at what looked like a solid rock wall that was about ten feet high. Seeing a rather large crack in the side of it, Hiccup ducked through and traversed the short tunnel that the crack had formed.

The sight that met his eyes then was stunning. He was standing on a small cliff overlooking a huge crater-like structure at least twenty feet deep. On the other side was a gigantic tree whose roots dangled over the edge and right down to the ground. The peaceful scene was complete with singing birds and the presence of a clear lake dominating the bottom of the gorge.

The Night Fury was nowhere in sight. "This was stupid," he sighed to himself. That's when he saw something glinting in the sunlight. He looked down and saw several flat, black objects rather like river stones. He picked one up, feeling the smooth, shiny surface under his fingers.

 _Wait, these are scales, aren't they?_ he wondered. He peered harder at the object in his hand. He hadn't seen a dragon scale by itself up close before, so he wasn't entirely sure.

All at once, there was a scream and a huge black shadow that came shooting up from the below. Hiccup instinctively fell back, watching as the shadow passed by, heading for the rim of the crater. Looking straight up, he saw the Night Fury practically right next to him, scrabbling with its claws at the stone that made up the walls of the gorge.

Failing in its attempt to climb up, the Night Fury quickly glided away on silent wings, only to crash-land on the banks of the lake. Apparently frustrated, it tried again at a different location, only to get the same result – failure.

An inspiration struck Hiccup. He dug out his little notebook and piece of charcoal and quickly sketched a drawing of the Night Fury, noting the position of its fins and its general body shape.

"Why don't you just...fly away?" he quietly asked it, as if it could hear. As it spat a blue bolt of flame at the ground in anger, Hiccup noticed that the tail was missing one of its fins. That, he guessed, was the source of the dragon's inability to fly properly. He unconsciously smudged out one of the tail fins he had drawn.

"A Night Fury needs its tail fins to steer," came a voice. Hiccup turned to the entrance of the cove to see Snivels standing there. Snivels expertly jumped down onto the rock that Hiccup was on. "If a Night Fury loses one or both of its tail fins, it can't steer," Snivels explained, "And if it can't steer, it can't fly properly."

True to that fact, the Night Fury tried again, only to crash even harder. From their vantage point, Hiccup and Snivels saw it go limp, as if it were giving up. Then they watched as it crept to the edge of the lake and thrust its head in. _Is it catching fish, maybe?_ Hiccup asked himself. If it was, that effort was fruitless as well.

Hiccup was totally fascinated by this mysterious creature, so fascinated that he let his grip on the charcoal loosen. Too late, he fumbled for it, only to see the stick fall with a clatter onto the rocks below.

Instinctively, Hiccup and Snivels shot nervous glances at the Night Fury, only to see its vivid green eyes staring right back at them. They paused. Was that a hint of recognition that they saw deep in those orbs?

With a tiny jolt, the dragon tilted its head ever so slightly. It seemed to share their curiosity. At that moment, a single thought crept through Hiccup's mind.

 _Are dragons really just pests to be killed? Or are they something more?_

* * *

 **So, Snivels is able to use the move Vine Whip, and he used it to save his trainer. Is he really as inexperienced as everyone thinks he is? Also, in case you guys haven't noticed, Snivels obviously likes riding on Hiccup's shoulder.**

 **And if any of you were wondering, the Sliggoo was telling the Gronckle not to attack. Please review, follow, or favorite!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Charmander, the Stray Pokémon

 **This chapter shares its name with an actual episode from the Pokémon anime. There will be the reading of the Dragon Manuel and the Pokedex, and the name of the chapter says what else.**

* * *

When Hiccup and Snivels returned from their walk in the woods, a thunderstorm rolled in, causing them to get drenched by the pouring rain. "Looks like Thundurus is angry," Snivels said as the lightning flashed, and the thunder roared. The Legendary Thundurus, a Flying and Electric-Type, was said to create large thunderstorms alongside Thor, the Norse god of thunder. Snivels never believed in the Norse gods, for there were quite a few Legendary Pokémon capable of such supernatural abilities.

As far as he knew, the Legendary Pokémon were the real gods.

Night had fallen, making it nearly impossible to see anything through the pouring rain, except for the torches at the Great Hall, which were covered by the overhang, protected from the rain. Not wanting to fall in the mud, Snivels proceeded to ride on Hiccup's shoulder as they approached the Great Hall.

The voices of Gobber and the teens, as well as their Pokémon, could be heard as Hiccup opened the doors of the hall. "Where did Astrid and Blaze go wrong in the ring today?" Gobber asked.

Astrid sighed. "I mistimed my somersault dive, it was sloppy, threw off my reverse tumble. Made it hard for Blaze to follow."

"Yeah, we noticed," Tuffnut replied.

Snotlout shook his head. "No that was so cool, that was so...'Astrid.'"

"She's right," Gobber said, "You have to be tough on yourselves."

By that time, Hiccup, with Snivels riding on his shoulder, had reached the table and taken the last plate, which had a chicken leg on it.

"Where did Hiccup and Snivels go wrong?" Gobber asked. _Here it comes,_ Hiccup said in his thoughts. Snivels, however, was somewhat amazed that Gobber actually managed to remember his name.

Snickering, Ruffnut suggested, "They showed up?"

"They didn't get eaten!" Tuffnut added.

Their laughing was cut off by Astrid. "They're never where they should be," she said.

Snivels looked at Blaze, who shrugged as if to say "Sorry."

Ignoring their insults, Hiccup went over to sit at an empty table. Snivels jumped down off of his trainer's shoulder and onto the table, unsure of what to say.

Shaking his head, Gobber moved some stuff off of the table that the others were sitting at. "You have to live and breathe this stuff," he announced, holding up two old books in his hand. "The Dragon Manual and the Book of Pokémon– everything we know about every dragon and Pokémon we know of." He let the books fall onto the table.

A flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder dimly sounded outside. "No attacks tonight," muttered Gobber. "Study up."

It took a moment for his words to sink in to the others. "Wait," said Tuffnut in realization. "You mean _read_?!"

Ruffnut piled on, "While we're still _alive_?"

Snotlout slammed his fist onto the table in frustration. "Why read words when you can kill the stuff words tell you stuff about?"

"Let me put it this way," Snivels said, "If you don't read the words, you won't know how to kill it. And if you don't know how, you'll end up getting killed instead – which would do some of us a great favor."

Any argument that would have resulted from that comment was never made a reality, as Fishlegs started talking quite suddenly. "I've read them both, like, seven times. There's this water dragon that sprays boiling water at your face, and its partner..."

He was cut off by Tuffnut. "Yeah, sounds great. You know, there was a chance I was going to read them," he grumbled, and Ruff finished, "But now..."

Snotlout growled. "You guys read, I'll go kill stuff." He stood up and left the Great Hall, with the others trailing behind him.

That left Hiccup, Astrid, and their Pokémon. He made a move for the books lying next to her.

"So, I guess we'll share?" Hiccup said, somewhat hopeful.

Astrid shook her head. "Read them," she said, pushing the books slightly toward him.

"All mine then," Hiccup said, "Okay, so I'll see you...tomorrow." Astrid and Blaze had both left, leaving Hiccup and Snivels alone.

It was quite dark by now in the Great Hall (the wind having blown the central fire out), so Hiccup lit a candle and opened the Book of Pokémon. He decided to leave the Dragon Manuel for later.

The first Pokémon he looked up was his starter. " _Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon. Cool, calm, and collected, it photosynthesizes with the leaf on its tail, and uses the sunlight it absorbs to make energy, which it later uses in battle. When it isn't feeling well, its tail droops._ "

The next page showed a Pokémon that Hiccup had never seen before. It looked a lot like Snivy, except that it was bigger, and its tail was longer and had more leaves. It also had some sort of horn on its head. " _Servine, the Grass Snake Pokémon, and the evolved form of Snivy. Servine whips its opponents with vines, and dodges their attacks by hiding in the shadows of thick foliage._ "

The next page showed a drawing of what looked like a green snake with two large horns on its head, no legs, and two small leafy arms. " _Serperior, the Regal Pokémon, and the evolved form of Servine. It absorbs sunlight through its horns and then boosts the power internally. Its glare is enough to stop its opponents in their tracks. Serperior only battle their hardest when they are up against the strongest opponents._ " Hiccup didn't hesitate to turn the page.

He skipped the pages about Torchic, Combusken, Magby, Magmar, Nidoran, Nidorino, Nidorina, Lotad, Lombre, Cubchoo, Beartic, Nosepass, and Probopass; since he already knew a lot about them. He skipped all the way to nearly the end of the book, where there was a list of the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.

 _Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno, Mew, Mewtwo, Entei, Raikuo, Suicune, Celebi, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Latios, Latias, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Heatran, Cresselia, Phione, Manaphy, Shaymin, Darkrai, Arceus, Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion, Tornadus, Thundurus, Reshiram, Zekrom, Landorus, Kyurem, Victini, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Hoopa, Volcanion, Diancie, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Magearna, Marshadow, Zeraora, and..._

 _...the Regis._

Hiccup skipped ahead to the list of the Regis.

 _Regirock, Registeel, Regice, and Regigigas._

Hiccup then noticed something on the very last page of the book. " _For those of you who have read this far, you now know the names of the Legendary and Mythical Pokémon. Due to only a few witnesses, the images of the Pokémon were never recorded. The most remarkable thing is the thought that they could be out there, waiting for someone, anyone, to prove themselves a worthy hero. Oddly enough, though some of these Pokémon are Dragon-Types, they never take part in any dragons raids._ "

Hiccup closed the Book of Pokémon, put it aside, and turned to the Dragon Manuel. He opened it.

"Dragon classifications," he read out loud. "Strike class, Fear class, Mystery class."

He began with the Tidal class. The first page depicted a detailed sketch of a Thunderdrum. " _This reclusive dragon inhabits sea caves and dark tide pools with its partner Druddigon,_ " said the book. " _When startled, the Thunderdrum releases a concussive sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight._ "

The next dragon was a Timberjack. Reflecting on how Timberjacks could fly through dense forests by simply slicing through the trees with their razor-sharp wings, along with Haxorus, he skipped several pages.

Then came the Scauldron. It was a bit of a funny-looking beast, with its enormous belly and long, serpent-like neck. " _This dragon's partners are the rare and powerful Kingdra._ _The Scauldron sprays scaulding water at its victims. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight._ "

Hiccup flipped to the Mystery class. " _Changewings are known for their chameleon ability, being able to blend in with any environment. These dragons are aided by Dragalge. They can spray a deadly acid, even when newly hatched. Extremely dangerous, kill on sight._ "

The pictures on the pages seemed to come alive, and move as Hiccup flipped through them. "Gronckle. Zippleback. The Skrill. Boneknapper. Whispering Death. Burns its victims. Buries its victims. Chokes its victims. Turns its victims inside out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight."

Hiccup flipped to the very last page of the Dragon Manual. The page was mostly blank, except for a little bit of writing at the top and bottom. "Night Fury," he breathed, reading out loud once more. "Speed unknown, size unknown. The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon. Your only hope: hide and pray it does not find you."

Unconsciously, Hiccup took out his sketchbook and opened it to the page with his drawing of the Night Fury in the forest canyon. He held it out and placed it on the open manual, so that the page looked complete at last.

"Hiccup!" Snivels had left the Great Hall, and was outside in the storm. "Hiccup, come quick!" Hiccup looked up from the book. He quickly grabbed his sketchbook and tucked it back into his vest. He then ran outside to see what Snivels was yelling about.

* * *

Snivels was drenched by the rain, but he didn't care. His focus was on something completely different. Hiccup ran up to him. "What's wrong?" he asked. Snivels pointed underneath one of the nearby buildings. There was a weak, but telltale light underneath it. Crawling under the building, Hiccup and Snivels found a weak, orange, lizard-like Pokémon with a small flame at the end of its tail. A Charmander. And it was dying. Once the flame at the end of a Charmander's tail went out, the Pokémon died with it.

Hiccup quickly took off his vest and wrapped it around Charmander to keep it warm. He and Snivels crawled out from underneath the building, Hiccup carrying the Charmander in his arms. "I'll make sure that Charmander's tail flame stays lit," Hiccup said, mostly to himself.

The two friends quickly started for home, ignoring the pouring rain, the booming thunder, and the flashing lightning. Hiccup kept his vest draped over Charmander's weak tail flame to keep the rain from drenching it. "Hang in there, Charmander!" The little Pokémon whimpered weakly in response.

When they made it back to the house, Hiccup quickly set Charmander in front of the fire, which was still wrapped in his vest. Snivels got out a blanket, took the vest off of Charmander, and draped the blanket over the shivering Pokémon. Snivels handed Hiccup back his vest and he put it on, it was slightly warm from what was left of Charmander's fading heat. Hiccup and Snivels stayed by Charmander's side throughout the night, taking turns rubbing the Lizard Pokémon's body with their hands to help it warm up. The two of them watched as Charmander's tail flame grew, little by little.

Sometime after midnight, Snivels fed it an Oran Berry to help it heal faster. Hiccup reached down and pet the Lizard Pokémon. "It'll be alright," he whispered.

When Charmander's flame had almost reached its full power, the two friends decided to take a quick break. "You know," Snivels said, "I always believed that Vikings were stubborn and heartless people waiting to move into the next fight. Almost all of the trainers I had prior to living here matched that description, which is why I abandoned them. But you were willing to take me in when we first met, and what you did to help save this Charmander when you knew it would have died out there on its own, that's the kind of thing I've been searching for in a trainer. I'm glad that you were able to meet my expectations." Hiccup had been listening all throughout, but he said nothing, his eyes fixed on Charmander's flame.

By morning, the flame on Charmander's tail had regained enough of its flare to that of its normal strength, ensuring the Pokémon's survival. Charmander opened its eyes and looked around.

Hiccup was the first to notice that Charmander was awake. "Are you okay?" he asked quietly. Charmander nodded in thanks.

It wasn't long after that when Snivels stretched himself awake. The first thing he noticed as he returned from dreamland was the Charmander's eyes. Enchanted, he slowly moved forward until he was inches from it. "You're a girl," he said suddenly.

" _I am_ ," Charmander said, " _And you can talk_."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're brighter than the sun?" Snivels asked, blushing furiously.

When the Charmander heard this, she blushed as well. " _Thanks_ ," she said, " _My name's Amber, by the way_."

"I'm Snivels," said the young Snivy. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he had fallen in love.

In the Pokémon language, Amber explained that her trainer had abandoned her, so she ran away and ended up on Berk. Because it had been hard to find a good home, Amber's flame had been growing weaker due to the lack of food, water, and rest. Eventually she became too weak to move, and ended up sheltering under one of the houses.

Hiccup listened as Snivels translated Amber's story to him. "Well, if she doesn't have anywhere else to go, I guess she could stay with us." No sooner had the words left his mouth when Amber ran over and hugged his legs, purring with happiness.

Snivels was especially glad to have a new friend...and possibly even more.

* * *

"I can almost smell them," Stoick murmured, staring hard at the map he had with him. "They're close."

He and his small fleet of ships were heading for the foggy region north-west of Berk, where the dragon nest supposedly was. The dense fog never lifted, hiding the dragons' dark secrets. Ever since Vikings had arrived on Berk three hundred years ago, the hidden nest had remained elusive. In his heart, he knew that this trip was to be as futile as the uncountable others.

He steeled his courage and commanded to the pilot of his ship, "Take us in."

The pilot instantly shouted to the other ships, "Hard to port!" All three of the Viking ships sailed straight into the fog, seeming to be swallowed by the murk.

The ship that was last in line was lagging slightly. The pilot became nervous as he saw the sterns of his companion ships vanish. It was too quiet, and his warriors began to mutter to themselves, trying to encourage themselves or otherwise break the uncomfortable silence.

Just then, there was a loud roar as the shadow of a Monstrous Nightmare became visible in the deep fog.

* * *

 **Hiccup and Snivels have a new friend and ally, and for Snivels, something more! Although, in the games, a Snivy and a Charmander can't really be together, it is fanfiction after all!**

 **Review, follow, and favorite!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Dragon Training Day Two

 **You'll notice I like adding in new, original scenes.**

* * *

Hiccup didn't know what to do with Amber, so he allowed her to come to Dragon Training with him the next morning. The walk there wasn't as long as it was the day before, and Hiccup guessed that was because he had another person, or Pokémon, to talk to.

Despite Hiccup's strong and reasonable desire to skip training that day, Snivels encouraged him forward with, "The second day is never as bad as the first." Hopefully that would qualify with Dragon Training.

" _I appreciate you guys letting me stay with you,_ " Amber said as they walked to the training arena.

Snivels, who was riding on Hiccup's shoulder, blushed lightly. "It wasn't that much, really," he said.

" _Actually, it was,_ " Amber said, smiling. Snivels's face turned an even brighter shade of red.

Now Amber was concerned. " _Are you okay?_ " she asked.

Snivels's face was even redder than her tail flame. He shrugged, still blushing. "Like I said before," he said, "You're brighter than the sun. And you're very hot too, no pun intended."

" _So, you like me?_ " Amber asked.

"Very much, yes," Snivels said.

Now it was Amber's turn to blush. " _That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me,_ " she said.

And of course, Hiccup had to be in the middle of that conversation. "You do realize that you just told her that you like her, right?" he asked Snivels.

"Yes," Snivels said, "I probably didn't tell you this before, but it's officially against my family oath to tell a lie. I'm committed to tell the truth. Not that I can't lie, I can, but I always choose not to. After all, there's nothing you can gain from lying."

Hiccup sighed, "Thank you for summing that up."

Amber, who was still blushing, decided to answer to Snivels's compliment. " _I like you, too, Snivs,_ " she said.

Snivels looked at her. "Snivs?" he repeated in confusion.

Amber shrugged. " _A nickname for you,_ " she said, smiling.

Snivels smiled back at her. "Snivs..." he muttered under his breath. He liked that nickname.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Okay, obviously I don't speak Charmander, but could you guys talk about whatever the heck you're talking about later?" he asked.

Snivels shrugged. "We can talk about something else if you want," he said, "We never really talked about what it was like for you before we met. I mean, I assumed that it was tough, not having someone to look to for comfort." Then he smirked. "How'd it go with the ladies?"

Hiccup sighed, "Way to get the mood back on track."

"Come on," Snivels teased, "I saw the way you looked at Astrid."

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Snivels, Astrid wouldn't come near me if she was on fire, and I had the only bucket of water in the entire village."

"I bet she would," Snivels said, exchanging a glance with Amber, who was smiling.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and continued walking to the training arena with Snivels on his shoulder, and Amber right beside him.

* * *

"So I just happened to notice that the Dragon Manuel had nothing on Night Furies," Hiccup called sheepishly. "Is there another book? Or a sequel? Maybe a Night Fury pamphlet?"

A second after he said that, a blast of fire and a Flamethrower came out of nowhere and burnt right through the blade of his axe.

"Focus, Hiccup! You're not even trying!" called Gobber from his and Norward's vantage point beyond the cage covering the top of the arena. Hiccup's eyes bugged in horror as he saw the Deadly Nadder and Flygon climb down from their perch and run at him. Frantically, he tried to outspeed them, twisting and turning randomly through the maze that Gobber had set up, with Snivels right behind him.

All the while, Amber watched nervously from her place behind the entrance gate, which had been securely closed and locked so the dragons could not get out.

"Today is all about attack!" called Gobber, letting his voice carry to reach everyone's ears. "Nadders and Flygon are quick, and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter!"

Fishlegs and Pad made an unlucky turn down one path, only to find that the Nadder and Flygon were already observing that corridor. With a shriek, the Nadder extended its tail spines and whipped them ferociously at Fishlegs. He only just managed to bring his shield up in time to block the incoming spines. Flygon tried to fire a Flamethrower at them, but his Lombre partner quickly extinguished it with Bubble Beam.

"I'm really beginning to question your teaching methods!" Fishlegs screamed at Gobber.

"Look for its blind spot," Gobber suggested, "Every dragon has one. Find it, hide in it, and strike!"

Ruff, Tuff, and their partners all turned a corner to come face-to-maw with the advancing dragon. The Nadder blinked in confusion – as it turned out, directly in front of it was its blind spot. The twins and their Pokémon moved as the dragon's head did, trying to stay in that spot.

Ruff gagged as she caught a whiff of Tuff's body odor. "Do you ever bathe?" she grumbled under her breath, hoping the Nadder wouldn't overhear.

"If you don't like it, then get your own blind spot," Tuff snapped, his voice worriedly loud.

"How 'bout I give you one?!" yelled Ruff, butting heads with her brother. The sound of their trainers' arguing caused Sarin and Ricin to start arguing as well.

Unfortunately, they forgot about being quiet, and the Nadder spat a stream of blindingly bright fire at the sound of their arguing. They barely managed to get out of the way in time.

"Blind spot, yes," said Gobber. "Deaf spot...not so much."

Finding himself and his Snivy beneath Gobber again, Hiccup asked another question. "Okay, so, how would one sneak up on a Night Fury?"

Gobber sighed. "No one's ever seen one and lived to tell the tale. Now get in there!"

Hiccup started to protest, "I know, I know, but hypothetically - "

He interrupted by a forceful whisper of, "Hiccup!"

Hiccup turned to see Astrid, Blaze, Heat and Snotlout crouching behind a wall, trying not to attract the attention of the Nadder or the Flygon. They were now quietly stalking down the corridor next to them, trying to listen for its prey.

"Get down!" Astrid said in that same whisper.

Without argument, Hiccup slipped in next to Snotlout, Snivels still hanging onto his shoulder.

As soon as the dragons had their backs turned, Astrid and Blaze rolled across the path to the next wall. Seeing her success, Snotlout and Heat followed, also making it across safely.

 _Here goes nothing,_ Hiccup thought, bracing himself. He threw himself forward in a similar somersault, and for a fraction of a second, he thought that he had actually made it. But he didn't have enough momentum to make it to the other side, and fell to the ground awkwardly.

The Nadder's head snapped towards them and it instantly pounced. Hiccup scrambled to his feet and ran past Astrid, Blaze, Heat, and Snotlout who were bravely confronting the enraged dragon.

Hiccup hid behind the two teens and their partners, trying to catch his breath. He saw Astrid start to throw her axe. But Snotlout stupidly intervened on one of his tangents again, fruitlessly hoping to impress Astrid. "Watch out, babe. I'll take care of this," he said confidently, chucking his weapon at the Nadder, which was staring at him in confusion.

The weapon twirled through the air and missed by a mile, thumping against a wall as it did so. The Nadder tore its eyes off of the moving object and warbled. It comically sounded like the dragon was laughing at Snotlout. Snotlout began to protest at Astrid's annoyed expression.

"The sun was in my eyes, Astrid. What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could that, but I don't have the time to do it."

The Nadder finished laughing and went for Astrid and Blaze, seeing them as the bigger threat since Astrid still had a weapon. They both ducked into another corridor and the dragon slammed into the wall before recovering and continuing the chase. It was more and more frenzied as it continued to fail to catch its prey. It slammed into walls and jumping heavily up on them, the force of the blows toppling the maze walls like dominoes.

Not paying attention to the chaos, Hiccup proceeded to ask Gobber a question. However, he was interrupted by the sounds of the walls collapsing. Turning around, he noticed Astrid, Blaze, and the Nadder all trying to get over one of the walls. The dragon snapped at their heels, and Blaze leaped off the wall and landed off somewhere. It was then the wall that Astrid was standing on began to fall over, the weight of the Nadder pushing it down. There was very little time to react as Astrid jumped off of the wall, screaming Hiccup's name.

It took a minute for the dust to clear, and when it did, Hiccup realized that Astrid was on top of him, trying to untangle herself from him. The twins caught sight of their current situation.

"Ooh, love on the battlefield!" Tuffnut teased.

Ruffnut scoffed, "She could do better."

Astrid finally managed to untangle herself and stand up. Hiccup sat up, only to see the Nadder free itself from under a pile of downed walls. He prepared to run, only to feel Astrid's boot in his face as she pulled on her axe, which was stuck in his shield. She pried the shield off, and as the Nadder charged at her, she whacked it right in the snout, shattering the wood of the shield. The Nadder stumbled off in a daze, before slumping to the ground in an unconscious heap a few meters away.

It was at that time that the Flygon appeared out of what was left of the maze, having gotten itself lost somehow. The second that the Mystic Pokémon saw the unconscious Nadder, it glided over to it.

Just then, Blaze appeared out of nowhere and hit the Flygon with Sky Uppercut. The Flygon was immediately knocked backwards, skidding across the stone floor of the arena.

Astrid turned to Hiccup and glared at him. "Is this some kind of a joke to you?!" she screeched almost as loud as the Nadder. "Our parents' war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on."

She stalked away, motioning for Blaze to follow. Hiccup cautiously brought his head up again, finding both Snivels and Amber standing by.

" _Was that any better than the first day?_ " asked the Charmander.

Snivels sighed, "Unfortunately, no."

* * *

 **Part of the beginning of the chapter is a refernce to the How to Train Your Dragon deleted scene 'An Axe to Grind.' Review, follow, or favorite, and wait for the next update!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Meeting the Night Fury

 **The title of the chapter says it all. Not much I can add onto that.**

* * *

It was in the late afternoon when Hiccup arrived at the cove with Snivels and Amber. While the two Pokémon calmly walked into the clearing, Hiccup stayed in between two big rocks at the other end of the cove, hiding behind a shield. He lowered the shield and peeked out. He looked at his friends for a second before glancing around, obviously looking for the Night Fury. He lowered the shield a little more and tossed out a fish that he had been holding.

Still, there was no sign of the dragon. As Hiccup tried to move out further, the shield got stuck in between the rocks. He ducked under it and tried to pull it out on the other side, but with no success.

Abandoning the shield, Hiccup picked up the fish by the gills and moved around cautiously. The Night Fury watched him from an outcropping of rock, right behind the frightened Viking. When Hiccup turned to the Pokémon again, Snivels pointed in the direction of the Night Fury. Hiccup slowly turned around and found himself face-to-snout with the scrawny dragon.

The Night Fury slowly moved down from the rock and sniffed, picking up the scent of the fish. Hiccup awkwardly held out the fish and the dragon moved forward, opening his mouth and getting ready to eat it, when it suddenly growled and moved back. Amber and Snivels jumped back, startled.

Realizing why the Night Fury was growling, Hiccup looked at his dagger, which he had slipped into his belt for safekeeping. He moved his hand toward the handle of the dagger and the Night Fury growled louder. Gulping nervously, Hiccup grabbed his dagger with his thumb and index finger and cautiously dropped it on the ground next to him. The dragon still wasn't convinced. Hiccup then balanced the dagger on his foot and threw it into the lake, where it landed with a small splash.

The dragon glanced at where the dagger had landed and then looked at Hiccup, its pupils wide with confusion. It looked almost cute. Hiccup held out the fish once again, and the Night Fury walked up to him and opened his mouth wide, revealing the entire inside of his mouth. The dragon didn't seem to have any teeth at all.

Hiccup was confused. "Toothless? I could have sworn you had..." But before he could finish, the Night Fury's retractable teeth popped out of its gums and it snatched the fish out of Hiccup's hands, gobbling it down in hunger. The Night Fury looked at Hiccup and licked its lips, thankful for the fish Hiccup had given him. "...Teeth," Hiccup finished quietly.

Just then, the Night Fury moved toward Hiccup, seemingly looking for more fish. The Night Fury was forcing Hiccup back in fear. "Uh, no, no, no," he stuttered, falling onto his rear and frantically backing up against a rock. The dragon moved ever closer, nose almost touching him. Then Hiccup fearfully whispered, "I don't have any more!"

This statement seemed to stop the Night Fury and it half-closed its eyes, working its throat as it fought to eject some of its recent snack. After a moment, it spat out the tail of the fish into the boy's lap. Hiccup groaned quietly in disgust.

The Night Fury retreated, sitting on its hind legs, waiting to see if Hiccup would eat the fish. When he didn't, it gestured to the fish, hoping Hiccup would get the idea. Hiccup looked at the fish and then back at the dragon, now fully aware of what it wanted him to do. He hesitantly took a bite out of the raw fish. Oddly, the Night Fury was pleased to see him enjoy it. Amber and Snivels cringed, not believing that Hiccup was actually eating the fish.

The Night Fury continued to look at Hiccup, wondering why he wasn't swallowing the fish. The Night Fury swallowed, hoping Hiccup would get the idea. Hiccup groaned, unable to believe what the dragon wanted him to do. Snivels and Amber exchanged looks of disgust as Hiccup hesitantly swallowed the fish. Hiccup shuddered and looked at the dragon, who seemed happy that Hiccup had "enjoyed" the fish. Hiccup smiled at the dragon to show his appreciation. As they all watched, the dragon slowly smiled back, revealing that he had retracted his teeth.

Hiccup set the fish down on the ground and reached out to pet the dragon. The dragon instantly stopped smiling and growled before heading off to another part of the cove. The dragon stopped and shot a stream of blue fire onto the ground, moving in a circle while doing so. The ground was instantly scorched into a makeshift nest for the Night Fury to rest on. As the Night Fury lay down, it took one last look around to see that Hiccup had followed it and was sitting next to it.

The Night Fury glared at the young Viking before shifting his position and fanning his tail fin in front of his face so that he didn't have to look at Hiccup. Not taking the hint, Hiccup moved closer and was about to pet the dragon when it removed its tail to look at him. Hiccup quickly retreated and walked off, leaving the dragon alone.

Apparently, the Night Fury wasn't comfortable sleeping on the ground, at least for the time being, because when Hiccup looked back again the dragon was hanging upside down from a tree branch like a giant bat.

Snivels watched as Hiccup went to sit on a rock by the lake in the middle of the cove. He turned away and found a long stick sitting next to him. With nothing better to do, he began to draw in the dirt.

Unconsciously, he was drawing the Night Fury. It was the first time he had attempted such a thing – having seen him for the first time only a few days ago – but it looked pretty good.

As Hiccup sketched in the eyes, he saw a shadow fall over him. Instinctively, he knew it was the Night Fury, but he nervously pretended that he hadn't noticed. The noises the dragon was making as it stood over him sounded friendly, curious, and somewhat comical. Then he was gone, and a huge snapping sound occurred, followed by rustling noises. Hiccup looked up to see what the commotion was, and what he saw astounded him yet again.

The dragon had a huge tree almost as long as he was in his mouth, and was proceeding to drag it along in the dirt. Hiccup didn't know what the dragon was doing, but it certainly looked like he was having fun. He was making all these twists and turns with the tree in the dirt, unintentionally hitting Hiccup in the head with the leafy end a couple of times.

He glanced at Hiccup once, an eager look in his eyes. "What do you think?" he seemed to ask. Hiccup stood up to get a better look, and the truth hit him: the Night Fury was imitating him yet again, but this time, he was imitating him with the drawing stick! He was drawing in the dirt.

Finally, the dragon stopped, seemingly satisfied with his work. Hiccup could only stand there, gawking in wonder at the strange, squiggly line the dragon had drawn in the dirt. Was there anything that he could discover about this dragon that wouldn't shock him?

He got up, planning to get a better look at the "drawing." But suddenly, he heard a harsh growl from the Night Fury. He automatically looked down where the dragon was glaring, and saw that he had stepped on one of the lines in his "drawing". He lifted his foot, and the growl changed to a low warble.

A couple more times, Hiccup intentionally stepped on the drawing, just to make sure that this wasn't a coincidence. When he was sure, he stepped over the line, and the dragon didn't growl. Instead, the dragon seemed pleased that he was catching on.

The sun was setting, so Hiccup knew that they had been gone for several hours already. They needed to get back to the village, so he started moving around the tangled lines, taking extra care as to not step on anything.

He kind of lost track of what he was doing, because he was...lost in the little dance he was doing. Twisting and turning with each step, avoiding the lines, he found it surprisingly fun. He smiled to himself as he continued to step around the drawing, wishing that the rare moment of fun wouldn't end.

Suddenly, he stopped. He felt a presence behind him, and a soft snort came from above him, ruffling his hair. He turned and found himself face-to-face with the Night Fury. He looked into the dragon's eyes, and they seemed...peaceful. As if he no longer considered him a threat. As if he trusted him.

Hiccup reached out with his hand again, more cautiously this time. Narrowing his eyes, the dragon growled softly, warning him not to go any closer. But something told him to go on. He knew that they could trust each other now. So Hiccup only drew his hand back a little bit, turning away and looking at the ground. He reached out again, stopping when he had stretched his arm out as far as it would go.

He waited. He could feel the warm breath of the Night Fury as he remained stationary. He could only imagine what the dragon was thinking.

Then, ever so slowly, the dragon pressed his head against Hiccup's hand. He let out a soft sob, ducking his head even more. The dragon's head felt warm, dry, and smooth. The scales felt almost leathery, and nothing what he had expected them to feel like.

The dragon pulled back and ran off to another part of the cove. Hiccup's eyes followed the dragon as it left.

* * *

It was nighttime again. The four friends had quickly returned to the village practically the moment the sun had set, and had run into Gobber and Norward at the forge. The blacksmith told them that the Dragon Training gang was going to be camping at the top of one of the abandoned catapults, so they had no choice but to go along with them.

It wasn't like they even noticed the jeers and teasing remarks from the other trainees. All that Hiccup could think about was the Night Fury and how they had finally come to trust each other. Luckily, no one seemed to notice his withdrawn silence, or at least become suspicious of it.

"...And with one twist, he took my hand, and swallowed it whole!" Gobber said dramatically, in the middle of telling one of his war stories. "I saw the look on his face – I was delicious! He must have passed the word, 'cause it wasn't a month before another one of them took my leg!"

He held up his peg leg for all the teenagers to see. Norward just rolled his eyes. He still hadn't gotten used to his trainer constantly exaggerating his stories. Of the trainees, only Fishlegs and Pad looked partially impressed.

"Wasn't it weird to think of your hand was inside a dragon?" inquired Fishlegs curiously. "Like, if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed the dragon from the inside by crushing its heart or something." All he got were a mix of blank and exasperated stares.

"I swear, I'm so angry right now!" growled Snotlout, glaring at his burnt chicken as if he hated it. Clearly, he was still fuming over his and Heat's embarrassing failures in the arena. "I'll avenge your beautiful hand, and your beautiful foot! I'll chop up the legs of every dragon I fight...with my face."

"It's the wings and the tails you really want," corrected Gobber, "If it can't fly, it can't get away." He twisted a wing off of his own chicken and waved it around for emphasis. "A downed dragon...is a dead dragon."

There was silence after that. The statement echoed in Hiccup's mind, and the image that instantly appeared was that of the Night Fury, unable to fly and doomed to remain trapped in the gorge. He definitely wouldn't be able to keep him a secret forever, and anyway, they trusted each other now. That meant that they could help each other – didn't it? He was struck out of his thoughts by a voice calling out, "Hey guys!"

Everyone turned to see Snivels, who was tied around a post, a thick rope wrapped around him, almost covering him completely except for his head and tail. Snivels squirmed under his restraint. "Ain't you ever gonna stop stuffing your faces and get me something to eat?" he asked.

"Are you sorry for everything you did and said to us?" Snotlout mocked. He, the twins, and their Pokémon had tied Snivels to the post to try and "teach him a lesson," as they called it. But Hiccup knew that the real reason they had done that was because they hated Snivels as much as they hated him.

Snivels stopped squirming and looked away. "I don't apologize!" he shouted. Although Snivels was usually very polite, there was no way in a million years he would apologize to selfish people like the bullies.

Snotlout shrugged. "Then no food for Snivels!" he said, pulling a leg off of his chicken and taking a savage bite out of it.

Snivels then began to squirm again. "Stop making fun of me! Untie me and get me something to eat!" he shouted.

Just then, the ropes around Snivels loosened up. Snivels turned to see Amber standing on top of two barrels, untying him from the post. Snivels leapt on top of the barrels as soon as he was able to squirm out of the ropes. The two Pokémon then carefully climbed down and went to sit next to their trainer.

Gobber shook his head while Norward rolled his eyes. "Alright, we're off to bed," Gobber yawned, "You should be too! Tomorrow we get to the big boys – slowly but surely making our way up to the Monstrous Nightmare and the Salamence. But who will win the honor of killing them?"

Hiccup and his friends didn't stay behind long enough to hear the rest of what was going on. And they didn't notice Astrid and Blaze looking down curiously at their retreating figures.

* * *

Down at the forge, Hiccup pulled out his drawing of the Night Fury. He noticed the spot where he had erased the missing tailfin. He redrew it, confident on what he was about to do next.

He and Snivels both worked the air pump, Snivels holding onto it with Vine Whip, to keep to coals hot. If they got too cool, Amber used Flamethrower to heat them up again. When a certain object needed cooling, Hiccup submerged it in a bucket of water.

Then came the constructing. Snivels used Vine Whip to help keep certain objects in place while Hiccup tightened them. Amber stood by and watched, unless she was needed to help Hiccup with the constructing.

Just before sunrise, all of their hard work had finally paid off. They had built an artificial tailfin for the Night Fury, which was designed to fold up as well as work the way a real tailfin would. Now to see whether or not it would work.

* * *

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Dragon Training Day Three

 **Now let's see how things progress from this point in the story, shall we?**

* * *

Hiccup and his friends hadn't gotten a single bit of sleep since they had started working on the tail fin. But with everything that they had done that night in good condition and ready to be tested, it was worth it.

They made their way into the cove, with Snivels and Amber going first due to being smaller and relatively stealthier. Hiccup then climbed down into the cove, a basket of fish swung over his shoulder, and cautiously approached the Night Fury, who was basking in the sunlight like and overgrown lizard. His eyes were entirely focused on the dragon, who soon became aware of his presence.

"Hey, Toothless," he said, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

Snivels and Amber were rather surprised by the dragon's new name. But, really, it fit him.

Hiccup set the basket of fish down on the ground. "I brought breakfast, I hope...I hope you're hungry." He pushed the basket down with his foot. The basket fell open and at least twenty fish slid out with a slippery splat. "Okay, that's disgusting." The looks on his friends' faces went with his statement. Hiccup and the dragon, Toothless, looked over the types of fish that had been dumped out of the basket. "So we've got some salmon...some nice Icelandic cod...and a whole smoked eel."

Toothless searched through the pile of fish, but drew back and growled when he heard Hiccup mention the eel. Hiccup reached into the pile of fish and pulled out a black and yellow striped eel, holding it up in front of Toothless. Toothless reared up onto his hind legs at the sight of the eel and roared in disgust and terror. Somewhat shocked that such a mighty beast would be scared of something as small as an eel, Hiccup exclaimed, "No, no, no! It's okay!" He threw the eel aside and wiped his hands on his vest. "I don't really like eel much either." Snivels and his friends were watching, and they were quite impressed by Hiccup and Toothless's progress.

Now convinced that he was safe, Toothless once again began nosing the pile of fish. "That's it..." Hiccup murmured under his breath, sneaking around to Toothless's tail. "Just stick with the good stuff...and don't mind me...I'll just be back here, minding my own business..."

Hiccup set the tail fin down on the ground beside him and went to grab Toothless's tail. However, it moved out of the way suddenly. Nervously, Hiccup glanced back up at Toothless – he was still eating, already half-done the pile of fish, totally oblivious as to what he was doing.

But when Hiccup went back to the dragon's tail, it kept moving every time he tried to grab it. Once, it suddenly flicked up from the ground, startling Hiccup and causing him to become frustrated. He climbed over the tail and sat on it, futilely trying to keep it still. Toothless suddenly lunged forward, dragging Hiccup forward a couple of inches. Seeing that Hiccup needed help, Snivels rushed over to help him hold the tail and the prosthetic in place.

Grumbling under his breath, Hiccup started the work of attaching the prosthetic to Toothless' tail. Snivels held the tail fin close to the dragon's tail, and once Hiccup had it in the right position, he began to tighten it. Thankfully, the dragon stayed relatively still as they worked. They both heard a growl emerge from Toothless's throat, so they knew that he had definitely noticed them by now. But for reasons of his own, reasons that they probably wouldn't be able to comprehend, he let them proceed.

After about a minute's worth of work, Hiccup and Snivels had securely tied the tail fin to Toothless's tail. Hiccup sat back up to admire their work, Snivels sitting in front of him. "There we go," Hiccup muttered. "It's not too bad, it works..." Neither of them heard the sound of unfolding wings until it was too late.

"Guys, hold on!" Amber called.

Hiccup and Snivels both looked at the Charmander in shock. She hadn't spoken in the Pokémon language, she was talking like a human. The trainer and Snivy duo didn't have time to question how Amber had mastered the ability to speak before what happened next.

With Toothless' tail properly weighted again, he felt fit enough to fly again. With a mighty pounce, he leapt into the air with strong beats of his wings. Needless to say, both Hiccup and Snivels were taken completely by surprise by this maneuver.

The tail bobbed up and down violently – whether or not it was because of the added weight, they couldn't tell – but nevertheless, it was getting really hard to hold onto their breakfasts.

Judging from the height they had risen, Hiccup guessed that they were almost to the lip of the gorge. But right then, Toothless began to fall with a strangled roar, flailing his claws and flapping his wings frantically. Hiccup quickly turned his attention to the tail, and saw that it was closed.

He and Snivels both reached for it, and pulled it completely open.

Toothless suddenly swerved straight upwards, and Snivels felt dizzy from the sudden change in direction. He let go of the tail fin and held on to Toothless's tail for dear life as they flew higher.

At the speed Toothless was going, the trio had risen out of the gorge and high into the sky in only a few moments. As they gained an impressive bird's eye view of the woods, Hiccup exclaimed in jubilation, "Oh my...it's working!" He pulled hard on the tail fin once more, causing Toothless to make a hard right turn and down, back into the gorge.

As they skimmed the surface of the pool, Hiccup was unable to describe the feeling he was getting. It was a mix of joy and pure terror, but it felt great. "Yes! Yes! I did it!" he said, unable to contain his newfound emotion.

It was at that moment that Toothless swiveled his head to look at Hiccup and Snivels hanging for dear life onto his tail. The dragon suddenly carved a violent turn in the air and flung both human and Pokémon off.

The water rushed to greet Hiccup and Snivels. Hiccup hit the surface with an enormous splash, grabbing a quick breath before he became completely submerged. Snivels was able to change his posture and dive into the water with barely a splash, and then swim back up to the surface.

Hiccup and Snivels rose to the surface just in time to see Toothless' new fin return to its folded-up position, and Toothless himself involuntarily dive sharply for the water. They saw the annoyed and confused look he gave his tail, wondering why it was suddenly defective again.

The two friends ducked their heads under the water to avoid the rainstorm that occurred as Toothless' splash flung what seemed like half the lake into the air.

They were wet, sore, and tired (after all, it was still early in the morning). But Hiccup was feeling great! One of his inventions had finally worked, he was friends with a dragon, and to top it off, he had just experienced his first flight!

"Yeah!" he cheered, hopping up above the surface with his hands in the air. Snivels just shrugged and swam over to the shore to dry off.

Amber had witnessed the events that had occurred, and she was quite glad to see that her friends were okay. "Now we just need to deal with dragon training."

Snivels turned to look at the Charmander, a smile on his face. "I think I have an idea about how we can win this one," he said.

* * *

Hiccup stood with the pail of water in his hands beside Fishlegs and Pad. Gobber had separated them into groups for their next Dragon Training lesson. The teens all carried pails full of water. However, Hiccup was the only one struggling to maintain his grip on it. Snivels, of course, was waiting patiently on his trainer's shoulder.

"Today is about teamwork!" Gobber called, unlocking the cage door. A cataclysmic explosion blew the doors open and filled the arena with ever-advancing smoke. "Now, a wet dragon head can't light its fire," Gobber said as he and Norward watched from the side, "The Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky! One head breathes gas, and the other head lights it. And the Zweilous is responsible for protecting both of the heads. Your job is to know which head is which!"

"Razor-sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion," Fishlegs recited under his breath. "The Zweilous prefers ambush attacks, knocking down their victims..."

"Will you please stop that?!" Hiccup whispered, annoyed with Fishlegs's rambling.

In another part of the smoky arena, Snotlout boasted to his partner, Tuffnut, "If that dragon shows either of its faces, I'm gonna..." He suddenly noticed a shadowy figure that looked a lot like a dragon preparing to strike. "There!"

They both dumped their buckets of water on the figure, which revealed to be Ruffnut, Ricin, Astrid, and Blaze. "Hey!" Ruffnut exclaimed indignantly. "It's us, idiots!"

Tuffnut sneered, "Your butts are getting bigger. We thought you were the dragon!"

Snotlout tried to make things up with a casual, "Not that there's anything wrong with a dragon-esque figure..." He was cut off by Astrid walking up to him and punching him in the face. Blaze quickly followed her trainer's example, striking Heat under the chin with Sky Uppercut. Ricin tackled Sarin as Ruffnut threw her bucket of water at Tuffnut, hitting him in the head. The impact caused all of the water to dump out of the bucket.

But just then, a furious hiss broke through the arguing voices. Tuffnut yelped in pain as something dragged him into the smoke. Ruffnut started to advance, but Astrid held her back. "Wait..."

There was a growling noise, and a dragon's tail came out of nowhere and tripped the two girls and Blaze. The water in Astrid's bucket dumped onto the floor, and Tuffnut came out of nowhere and stumbled over his sister. "Ow, I'm hurt! I am _very_ much hurt!" he screamed, throwing himself behind Gobber.

Fishlegs, unhelpfully, muttered, "Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..." Heavy footsteps cut off his muttering, and Hiccup and Fishlegs raised their buckets, tense with anticipation.

One of the Zippleback's heads broke through the still-prominent screen of smoke right in front of them, twisting and turning as it focused its attention on Fishlegs. It drew worryingly close to his own head, causing him to panic and toss his bucketful of water on it. The Zippleback's eyes narrowed and gas gurgled out from its maw. "Oh," Fishlegs chuckled nervously, "Wrong head."

With a terrifying shriek, the Zippleback shot a stream of gas right in his face. Fishlegs screamed and ran in the opposite direction, with Pad right behind him, fending off the Zippleback head with Bullet Seed.

It was now up to Hiccup. The smoke vanished completely, and he now had a clear view of the entire dragon. Both heads stared down at him, with the left head emitting several sparks threateningly.

"Now, Hiccup!" Gobber called, and Hiccup threw the water at the sparking head with all his might. However, a glowing blue force field appeared in front of the Zippleback's head, deflecting the water. Zweilous was doing its duty quite well with its Protect.

"Oh, come on," Hiccup said exasperatedly.

The Zippleback advanced, no longer holding back. Both heads glowered down upon Hiccup, one head with wisps of gas still trailing from it, and the other shooting sparks at him, leaving little doubt what it was about to do.

Just then, there was a shriek, and the two-headed dragon started backing away in fear.

"Back...back...back!" Hiccup commanded again and again. With each order, the dragon retreated, taking hasty steps backwards, away from him. "Don't make me tell you again!" Hiccup told it boldly.

As the dragon hurriedly ran and hid in the shadows that occupied its cage, Hiccup said triumphantly, "Yes, back – back into your cage! Now think about what you've done."

He pulled his vest back to reveal...none other than the eel that he had accidentally scared Toothless with that morning. Hiccup threw the dead serpent into the Zippleback's cage, and the dragon drew back even further, back legs going up the wall as it tried to avoid its slimy adversary. Unsure of what else to do, the Zweilous slipped back into the cage with its colleague as Hiccup began to shut the doors, secretly promising to come back later and remove the eel.

Hiccup pushed the cage doors closed and locked them, Snivels still hanging on to his shoulder. Turning around, they saw the other trainees' faces. Each and every one had the same dumbfounded expression on it. Even Gobber and Norward looked completely bewildered.

"So, are we done?" Hiccup asked as if they had all just finished a pleasant discussion. "'Cause we've got some things we need to...yeah, we'll see you tomorrow!"

He then headed towards the exit and across the bridge leading to the arena, full of newfound confidence. Snivels turned back to see Blaze's expression turn from shock to pride, and he smiled and winked. After making sure that no one was looking, Blaze winked back.

* * *

 **Looks like things are starting to look up. Review, follow, or favorite, and stay tuned for the next update!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Training

 **The first victory for Hiccup in the arena, and the Pokémon are starting to get a little more experienced. What's going to change?**

* * *

Things seemed to get better for Hiccup and his friends after what happened in the arena. They all trained hard to try to get stronger together. They also continued to work as a team in the forge.

They all worked in the forge all night, working on a new project, each of them receiving only a few hours of sleep. By morning, the project was complete. They had made a saddle, so that Hiccup could ride on Toothless's back while they were flying.

When morning came again, they all headed back to the cove, Hiccup carrying the saddle, and a basket full of fish. After Toothless had finished his breakfast, Hiccup showed him the saddle. Toothless responded by running around the cove, with Hiccup chasing him. Snivels and Amber watched, both of them trying to hold back a laugh.

The original idea was that Hiccup would sit on the saddle, which rested in turn on Toothless' back, and he would hold a length of rope in his hand. To change direction, he would simply tug on the rope, and the tail fin, which the rope was firmly tied to, would open or close.

It turned out to not be the best idea in the world. When they were airborne, Hiccup tried to get Toothless to go left. He tugged on the rope as hard as he could, and Toothless went the wrong way. They both plunged into the water of the lake for the second time.

* * *

The next part of training in the arena was to strengthen the bond between trainer and Pokémon. So Gobber assigned the teens and their Pokémon to go against each other. Hiccup ended up battling Fishlegs. The two teens entered the arena with their Pokémon. The other teens and Gobber stood above the arena to watch. Fishlegs, naturally, used Pad. Hiccup surprised everyone by using Amber. But what good would a Charmander be against a Lombre, who was both a Grass and Water-type? Hiccup and Amber planned to show them exactly how.

The battle started out with Pad using Fury Swipes. Amber dodged them easily. Hiccup then instructed Amber to use Dragon Rage. The young Charmander eagerly obeyed her trainer's command, opening her mouth and firing a powerful blast of purple energy that struck Pad struck dead, leaving him dazed, but still standing.

Fishlegs nervously commanded Pad to use Bubble Beam. Amber countered it with Dragon Rage, the two attacks canceling each other out. Before Fishlegs could give his Lombre another command, Hiccup surprised everyone with what he told Amber to do next.

"Alright, Amber, use Attract!"

Amber winked, and pink hearts appeared and surrounded Pad. As soon as the hearts made contact with the Lombre, he became infatuated. Stunned, all poor Fishlegs could stutter out was, "Charmander is a _girl?!_ "

Judging by the amount of surprise in his voice, it was easy to tell that he'd assumed Amber was a male. Offended, Amber cried out, "How rude! Do I look like a boy? I'll just pretend I didn't hear that." Then, without waiting for Hiccup's next command, she took a deep breath and unleashed a huge stream of flame straight at Pad. The minute the Flamethrower attack hit Pad, he fell to the ground, unable to continue the battle.

The first Pokémon battle that Hiccup had ever had, was the first battle he won. And he and Amber had both done it together.

The next battle was a double battle, Hiccup against the twins. Hiccup decided to use both Amber and Snivels in that battle. Due to the twins' and the Nidos' constant arguing, Amber and Snivels were both able to land a few powerful hits.

The Nidos fought back with Poison Sting, which was easily burned to a crisp by Amber's Flamethrower. The Nidos then tried using Double Kick, but their opponents easily dodged them.

Ricin ran at Snivels and tried to use Bite on him, but Hiccup quickly told Snivels to use Vine Whip. Snivels did so, and one strong blow from the vines sent the Nidorina flying.

Sarin tried to hit Amber with Horn Attack, but Amber easily dodged it. Amber then fired a close-range Dragon Rage at the Nidorino, who was way too close to dodge. Sarin was knocked backward, and slammed into his sister.

Smiling at his friend's cleverness, Snivels looked at Amber. "Time for a little move combination," he said.

Amber nodded in agreement.

Snivels kept his eyes locked on the Nidos as he balanced himself on his head and started spinning around. As he did so, a big green tornado of leaves seemed to sprout out of his tail, spinning with him.

A Leaf Tornado.

Amber then used Flamethrower on the Leaf Tornado, causing it to be engulfed in flames. But the attack didn't stop. Snivels kept it spinning, and then directed the attack at the Nidos. The Flame Tornado engulfed the two Poison Pin Pokémon, causing unimaginable amounts of damage. With an extra burst of energy, Snivels sent the Flame Tornado crashing into the ground, destroying it.

When the smoke cleared, Sarin and Ricin were both lying on the ground motionless, unable to battle.

The third battle was Hiccup vs. Snotlout. Snivels wanted to battle, so Hiccup decided to use him. But Snivels was really taking his chances, as he would be battling Heat, who had the type advantage.

Heat fired a Flamethrower, which seemed to hit Snivels, but the Snivy suddenly appeared behind his opponent in a blur, having used his superior speed to dodge the attack at the last second. Snivels then slammed into Heat with a Tackle. The Magmar quickly recovered and struck back with Fire Punch. Snivels easily dodged it. Keeping his distance, Snivels then used Leaf Tornado. Heat was lifted up into the vortex, the attack surprisingly causing a lot of damage.

When the Leaf Tornado was sent to the ground, it faded, revealing Heat lying on the ground. But the battle wasn't over. The Magmar hesitantly got up, extremely angry and more determined to win than before. Snivels quickly used Vine Whip to send Heat up above the arena. Snotlout saw this as his chance to unleash his Magmar's secret weapon.

"Heat, Fire Blast!"

The Magmar's eyes opened, and he responded to his trainer's command. He fired a blast of fire, which split into five at the end. Snivels was about to dodge it, but one look at the intense flames made him freeze with fear. The flames engulfed him, and he cried out in pain. Heat landed in the arena as the attack faded, and a weakened Snivels fell on all fours.

Hiccup was shocked had what had just happened. The battle seemed to be over.

But wait.

A green glow surrounded Snivels, and he opened his eyes. He stood up, a determined look in his eyes, the glow never fading.

The other teens were watching above the arena, and the twins were confused with what was going on. "That's Snivels's ability, Overgrow," Fishlegs explained, "Although he's low on energy, his Grass-type moves have really powered up."

As Fishlegs finished speaking, the green glow that surrounded Snivels faded, and the young Snivy faced Heat. Snivels's eyes briefly glowed a bright green before fading back to normal.

Now with newfound confidence, Hiccup smiled and exchanged a confident look with Snivels.

"Alright, Snivels, use Leaf Blade!"

The leaf at the end of Snivels's tail glowed as usual, but this time it doubled in size. Overgrow was causing the attack to become more powerful.

"Heat, Flamethrower, now!"

The Magmar did as he was told, but Snivels easily evaded the attack as he charged in. As soon as Snivels got close enough, he swung his tail and struck Heat with the Overgrow-powered Leaf Blade. The attack was too much for the Magmar to take. He fell to the ground, unable to battle.

Snotlout was stunned. His partner had been beaten. He had lost the battle. And what was more disappointing was that he had lost to Hiccup.

Snivels was really proud of himself for defeating Heat, and Hiccup was quite surprised that he actually won the battle against Snotlout.

From above the arena, the teens and their Pokémon were quite surprised. Who would have guessed that Snivels would be able to continue after taking a huge hit from Fire Blast? It took Fishlegs and the twins a moment to realize that Astrid and Blaze weren't watching anymore. The two of them had left the minute that Heat hit the ground in defeat. No one had noticed them leave because of what had happened.

Astrid and Blaze had just exited the arena. Blaze was impressed by the Pokémon's skills, but Astrid's thoughts were the opposite. _Anyone could have beaten those four,_ she thought, _But there's no way I'm battling_ him.

* * *

After a night in the forge, Hiccup and the others found out a way to make sure that Hiccup stayed on the saddle. Wearing a special waistband with clips, Hiccup could attach himself to the saddle to keep him from falling off.

The next morning, Hiccup tried a different approach with controlling the tailfin. He had tied the rope he used to control the fake fin to his foot, leaving his hands to grip the saddle for extra stability.

This time, they were able to make it out of the cove, but not long afterwards, they crashed again, this time into a field of tall grass. Hiccup stumbled away from the crash site, a bit dazed. Remembering that wild Pokémon tended to appear often in tall grass, he went back to get Toothless. To his surprise, Toothless was rolling around, and taking in the sweet scent of the grass they had landed in, purring contentedly.

Hiccup curiously picked a few blades of grass and looked at them, an idea already formulating in his mind.

* * *

Later that same day, things in the arena got back to the original routine, with the trainees and their Pokémon facing off against the dragons, most likely to see if the battles from last night had strengthened the relationships between trainer and Pokémon.

They were facing the Gronckle and Sliggoo again, and this time, Hiccup knew exactly what he was doing. Despite that, and the blades of grass he held in his hand, he was still feeling nervous.

Spotting the small group from the corner of its eye, the Gronckle bumbled their way, ready to attack. Hiccup held the grass out, directly in front of him.

The smell of it made the Gronckle hit the ground, skidding in right next to Hiccup. The Sliggoo slid down off of its partner's back and tried to push it up, but Snivels confronted it in Pokémon language, saying that the Gronckle would be okay.

Hiccup could see the dragon's huge nostrils working as it vigorously inhaled the scent of the blade. He took a chance and began to rub the grass roughly across its snout. His plan worked, the Gronckle flopped onto its side, tongue lolling from its mouth and wagging its club-like tail like an overgrown dog.

After training, as Hiccup and his friends made their way out of the arena, they were surrounded by the other teens and Pokémon. Except for Astrid and Blaze, who trailed behind them.

Despite the fact that they all lost their battles against Hiccup the other night, the teens were eager to know how Hiccup had done so well with the Gronckle. Hiccup's mind gave him and his friends an excuse to leave. "Oh, I left my axe back in the ring!" he said with mock exasperation, "We'll go get it, and uh, catch up to you later."

As Hiccup and his friends turned to leave, he and Snivels nearly bumped into Astrid and Blaze. Snivels muttered an apology to Blaze while their trainers tried to avoid each other. As the team of misfits left, Snivels caught a glimpse of Astrid's suspicious expression.

* * *

After a few more unsuccessful attempts at flying that afternoon, Hiccup tried to pass the time by scratching Toothless's scales. The Night Fury seemed to enjoy it, often changing his position for a better scratch.

Then, Hiccup ended up scratching the dragon under the chin unintentionally, and Toothless just flopped to the ground. Hiccup was unnecessarily worried for a moment or two, but then Toothless simply rolled over and gurgled in contentment.

Hiccup didn't know what about chin-scratching had caused him to drop like that. _This,_ he decided, _I should test in Dragon Training class tomorrow._

* * *

The Nadder and the Flygon were released from their cage, and they both charged. Astrid threw her axe at the Nadder, who deflected it with the spikes on its head. As Astrid went to retrieve her axe, Blaze followed her obediently.

The Nadder continued to charge forward, heading straight for Hiccup. Hiccup quickly dropped the mace that he had been holding, and the Nadder stopped, right in front of him. It gave him a curious look, and made a quiet, almost friendly sound.

A sudden noise drew the attention of both the Nadder, and Hiccup, who turned to see Astrid rapidly approaching, her axe raised above her head threateningly. Acting quickly, Hiccup began to scratch the Nadder behind its ears, causing it to purr softly. Hiccup seamlessly moved his hand underneath the dragon's chin and gave it a single scratch.

Instantly, the Nadder crumpled to the floor with a squawk, driven into complete submission. Hiccup looked up and met Astrid's eyes. They were wide, shocked, and almost frightened. Blaze, however, was quite impressed.

* * *

That evening, Hiccup and his friends entered the Great Hall for dinner. However, the minute they sat down at their table, nearly everyone in the Hall rushed over to sit down and talk with them.

Everyone that is, except Astrid and Blaze. Hiccup pretended not to notice, though deep down, he would have preferred sitting with them.

Snivels was the only one in the hall who noticed when Astrid slammed her mug down on the table in anger.

* * *

"Meet the Terrible Terror!" declared Gobber, and the cage unlocked. But instead of the doors opening, a tiny flap swung open near the base, and out crawled a small, lizard-like dragon. Innocently looking up at the teens, the Terror licked one of its eyes with its little tongue.

Ha!" laughed Tuffnut, obviously not taking the little creature seriously. "It's like the size of my..." Suddenly, the Terror pounced on him, knocking him to the ground with a kind of squeaky screech.

"Ow! Get it off!" howled Tuff, as the Terror started chewing on his nose with its gums. Snivels snickered at the sight.

Hiccup slowly approached the Terror, and held his shield at an angle that reflected the sunlight off of the shiny center. It was a technique that he had learned from Toothless that morning. The tiny dragon caught sight of the light, and tried to grab it. But Hiccup kept the small circle of light ahead of the dragon, luring it back to its cage.

"Wow," Tuffnut commented to Astrid, "They're better than you and Blaze ever were." Astrid glared at him as the Terror squeezed its way back into the cage.

* * *

Later that afternoon, Astrid and Blaze went to a clearing in the woods where they trained together. Astrid threw her axe repeatingly at the trees, while Blaze tried to stay out of the way and hit some other nearby trees with Sky Uppercut. They were each giving the trees some nasty cuts and gashes.

Astrid retrieved her axe after throwing it once again at the same tree. She then tucked and rolled into another area, and was about to throw her axe at a new target, when she noticed Hiccup and his friends standing in front of her. The Pokémon immediately walked off, Hiccup noticed them and shrugged, walking off as well.

This was Astrid's chance. Now she could find out what they were up to. As the group of misfits disappeared behind a rock, Astrid followed them, climbing on top of the rock and looking around. But strangely, the small group had disappeared out of her sight. Astrid slammed her fist onto the rock in frustration.

* * *

Hiccup and the others had been working in the forge again, and were on their way to the cove, when they had run into Astrid. It was just their luck that they were able to lose her. They were all really confident with their work, and felt like that this time it would work. They had worked together to create a mechanism that took the form of a stirrup attached to Toothless' left side, which would adjust the position of the fin depending on the position Hiccup's foot was in. Along with the saddle and tailfin, Hiccup had been improving his riding vest as well.

In a few minutes time, Hiccup and Snivels (who had been unwillingly talked into it) were riding on Toothless, who was tied to a boulder near the edge of a cliff with a strong piece of rope. They practiced using all of the different positions of the prosthetic fin, using the strong headwind to help lift Toothless into the air. After taking a small break, they lifted up again, but it was at that time the headwind picked up and pushed them backwards. The weight of the dragon, trainer, and Pokémon caused the rope to snap in two, and the trio was pushed backward into the forest.

Painfully, Toothless got up...leaving Hiccup to dangle from his side. The cord which attached Hiccup to the saddle was stuck, and would need some work to remove. "Oh, great," Hiccup muttered under his breath.

* * *

"Hiccup," greeted one of the Vikings in the village. Hiccup leaned against a nearby house and waved casually, his Pokémon standing next to him. As soon as the Viking was out of sight, Hiccup pulled on the cord, prompting Toothless to follow him and the others closely as they stalked under the cover of night through the village.

It had been nerve-wracking, incredibly risky, and maybe just plain stupid to bring the Night Fury into the village.

The group of friends made their way into the forge, which was empty of people. Hiccup instantly found the tool he needed and began to loosen the hook upon which the cord was stuck. As he did so, Toothless looked around curiously. Without any of the others noticing, he picked up a bucket and, seeing that it held no tasty snacks, threw it across the room. It landed with a loud clatter.

The group of misfits froze for a second, then Hiccup got back to work. He had just gotten the tool in the right place when something else caused them all to freeze. "Hiccup, are you in there?" It was Astrid. And there was no doubt that Blaze was with her.

Hiccup quickly made his way through the door, closing as soon as he made it out. Astrid didn't seem to notice Toothless. Snivels and Amber remained inside to make sure that Toothless didn't move.

As Hiccup nervously greeted Astrid, Toothless noticed a lone sheep grazing in the plaza. The sheep's eyes widened when it saw the dragon. As the Pokémon desperately tried to keep Toothless still, they could just hear what was going on outside.

"I normally don't care what other people do, but you're acting weird," Astrid said to Hiccup. Then she added as a sudden tug on the cord that still held Hiccup to Toothless made him stumble, "Well, weirder."

In that instant, Toothless tugged more urgently on the cord. Hiccup was literally lifted into the air for a few brief seconds, and then he was pulled through the door and back into the forge.

It took Hiccup and his friends two seconds to climb onto Toothless's back and ride him swiftly out of the village, leaving Astrid to stare in bewilderment through the doors, wondering just what had happened.

* * *

 **Three wins in a row for Hiccup in Pokémon battles! Unlike many of the other Vikings, he uses strategy to win a battle. And of course, self-confidence. And he believes in his Pokémon, and he cares for them.**

 **Review, follow, or favorite, and stay tuned for the next update!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Test Flight

 **Looks like it's** **time for the test drive.**

* * *

When Stoick, Brumous, and whatever was left of the crew arrived at Berk, their ship was nearly in ruins. Their ship was the only one of the three that had left, and survived. Only a few members of the crew were left, and one of them had lost their Pokémon partner in battle.

All in all, it could have gone better, or worse.

The ship was severely damaged. The sails had gaping holes in them, and the hull had been scorched by the dragons' fire blasts, and the Dragon-types' Flamethrowers. It would take a while for the boats and weapons to be repaired and replaced.

Gobber and Norward waited on the dock as the ship approached, along with other Vikings and their partners. As Stoick and Brumous were helped out of the ship, Gobber and Norward joined them. "I trust you found the nest, at least," Gobber said.

Stoick shook his head, "Not even close."

Gobber let out a sarcastic, "Excellent," before he and Norward went to catch up with Stoick and Brumous.

Stoick turned to his friend. "I hope you've had more success than me." Gobber shrugged. "Well, if by success you mean that your parenting troubles are over, then...yes."

Stoick gave Gobber a curious look. Just then, a group of Vikings showed up.

"Congratulations, Stoick! Everyone is so relieved!"

"Out with the old and in with the new, eh?"

"No one will miss those nuisances!"

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate!"

Stoick knew that they had to be talking about Hiccup and Snivels. He turned to look at Gobber. "They're gone?" he asked.

Gobber shrugged. "Well, most afternoons. But who can blame them, I mean the lives of celebrities are very rough. They can barely walk through the village without being swarmed by their new fans."

"Hiccup and his Snivy?" Stoick asked.

Gobber nodded. "Who would've thought it? They have this...way with the beasts."

Brumous and Norward said nothing, each of them wearing a straight face.

* * *

Hiccup had decided that they were ready to fly.

He and Toothless had been practicing for hours on end, in order to perfect the right positions and patterns. Snivels had helped, though he always made sure that he wasn't more than two feet off of the ground. It took Hiccup a while to convince Snivels to fly with them. Snivels finally agreed when Hiccup told him that he could ride in the saddlebag. Snivels knew that riding in the saddlebag would decrease the chances of him falling from a very high place.

That's how they ended up flying high above Berk. It was a test on whether or not Toothless was ready to fly again. It was also a test on how strong the equipment was. Hiccup didn't want the saddle, stirrup, or prosthetic breaking while they were more that a hundred feet off the ground.

"Okay, guys," Hiccup said as he patted Toothless, "We're gonna take this nice and slow." Snivels was in charge of determining what position the tail fin was supposed to be in. But Snivels believed that Hiccup should have been able to trust himself with determining that.

Hiccup clicked the stirrup into position, and the prosthetic fin opened wide. Toothless looked back at it and grunted in a satisfied way. He was ready to go. Snivels ducked back into the saddlebag.

"Alright, it's go time," Hiccup muttered, somewhat nervously. Just in case, he looked back at the fin to make sure that it was indeed in the correct position, then gripped the saddle and urged Toothless downward. They went into a steep dive, pulling out of it just as they reached the ocean's surface. They skimmed the water, and Toothless let one of his wings trail through the water and sent up a spray.

Passing underneath a rocky arch, Hiccup noticed a small flock of Wingull passing by above them. Ignoring the flock, they trio passed under the arch quickly.

"Yes, it worked!" Hiccup exclaimed in relief, but he became distracted and steered Toothless toward a rocky spire that rose up out of the sea. He frantically pulled to the side, but they crashed anyway. "Sorry!" Hiccup quickly apologized, only to steer Toothless into yet another rock spire. "My fault!" he exclaimed exasperatedly.

Unforgivingly, Toothless forcefully slapped him with one of the flaps on his head. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it!" Hiccup replied. He clicked the prosthetic into a different position.

Toothless went sailing upwards alongside a particularly large rocky spire. Excited now, Toothless sped up, flapping his wings in short bursts as they ascended ever higher. "This is amazing!" Hiccup called with exhilaration.

Hearing his trainer's exclamation, Snivels peeked out of the saddlebag to see for himself. The first thing he noticed was how high up they were, and the view was absolutely breathtaking. When Snivels saw something flying in the sky below them, he leaned out of the saddlebag to get a better look. No more than a few seconds later, the Snivy lost his balance and fell out of the saddlebag and towards the ocean far below.

It took Snivels a minute to register what was happening, and when he did, he screamed. Hiccup turned to see his friend plummeting toward the ocean, from hundreds of feet up. "Snivels!" Hiccup called out, and steered Toothless downward.

Snivels would have been able to grab onto the saddle with Vine Whip and pull himself up, the fact that he was falling from more than a hundred feet up left him paralyzed with fear. He was so scared, he couldn't even scream. At the speed Snivels was falling, it seemed unlikely that Hiccup and Toothless would've been able to catch him before he hit the water.

Just then, a purple and black, bat-like Pokémon seemed to appear out of nowhere and flew underneath the frightened Snivy. A Noibat. Snivels landed on the Noibat's back, and the Sound Wave Pokémon flapped his wings vigorously to keep them both airborne.

Still speeding forward, Toothless passed by Snivels and the Noibat. Hiccup turned to look up at them. Snivels gave him a small smile, and a thumbs-up. Hiccup then turned back forward to see that he and Toothless were headed for a forest. They pulled out of the dive just over the forest, barely scraping the tops of the numerous trees. They were fast approaching a maze of rock spires. Hiccup leaned in on the saddle. _I can do this,_ he thought to himself as he clicked the stirrup.

They both entered the maze. Hiccup's foot worked like never before, adjusting and readjusting Toothless' prosthetic over and over again. Each turn they made was flawless and perfectly executed. Rocks passed by in a blur, and not once did they worry about hitting one. Hiccup knew that they'd get out without a scratch. His confidence provided the instinct he needed to predict where and when to turn next. In no time at all, they made it out of the maze and into a small fog bank. Emerging from the fog, Hiccup felt an overwhelming sense of elation. Their first flight together had gone better than he could ever imagine.

"Yeah!" he cried, sitting up on the saddle fully and raising both of his arms. Toothless gave a happy sort of warble and shot a blue fireball into the air as if in celebration.

Unfortunately, the fireball exploded just ahead of them, leaving a huge nimbus of flames to linger in the sky. "Come on," Hiccup muttered, as they flew straight into it.

* * *

Hiccup tried to ignore slight burning sensation that his skin still experienced. His hair was scorched and wind-blown, and he was still a little dazed.

Toothless then vomited up a fish head for Hiccup to eat. "Uh, no thanks," Hiccup said casually, "I'm good." He then held up his own fish, which was on a stick and being cooked over a small fire.

The sound of flapping wings drew the two friends' attention. The Noibat from earlier was flying to them, with Snivels still riding on its back. Tired from carrying the young Snivy on his back, the Noibat nearly collapsed when he finally landed. Snivels jumped off of Noibat's back as soon as they landed. "Are you okay?" Hiccup asked.

Snivels brushed himself off. "Well, to be quite honest, which I am, it could have gone better," he said. The Noibat nodded in agreement. "Anyway, thanks for the lift," Snivels said and waved at the Noibat. Snivels turned and started to walk away, when the Noibat rushed up and nuzzled him.

"I think it wants to stay with us," Hiccup said, not sure if he should be excited or disappointed. Noibat was a Flying and Dragon-Type, and of course the villagers would attack a Dragon-Type, no matter how cute it was.

Snivels didn't mind this, however, so he pet the Noibat on the nose. "Do you have a name?" he asked.

The Noibat lifted his head and squeaked. Obviously, the little bat-like Pokémon was unable to speak human.

Snivels turned to Hiccup and Toothless. "He said that his name is Verne."

Verne tilted his head and cooed, which made him look pretty cute.

Toothless just grumbled. Snivels frowned at the Night Fury. "You know, that's not really a good first impression for him, right?"

Both Toothless and Hiccup looked at Snivels in both shock and amazement. "You mean you actually understood what Toothless said?" Hiccup asked.

Snivels shrugged nonchalantly. "I took multilingual classes back home. My parents said it was important for us to be able to communicate with all sorts of different creatures from different places. I learned quite a few different languages from them, but I had to learn how to speak human all on my own."

Surprised, Hiccup couldn't help but ask, "You taught yourself how to talk?"

"I guess you could put it that way," Snivels said, scratching the back of his head like he saw Hiccup do sometimes.

Hiccup's expression then changed to confusion. "What about your family? Do they know where you are?"

Taken aback, Snivels froze for a moment before his expression fell. "My family is gone," he said. "I'm the only one left."

"What happened?" Hiccup asked, almost automatically.

Averting his eyes, Snivels started, "They were killed by..." His expression told Hiccup he was considering what he was about to say before he finished. "By Vikings."

Hiccup stared wide-eyed at his partner, unable to comprehend what had just been said.

The Snivy continued, "I was born in a royal family, the youngest of the many sons of the king and queen of Pokémon. About a year ago, we were responding to a distress call on an island not unlike Berk. A lot of Pokémon had been caught in the crossfire throughout the war, and that's the most dangerous place to be. I had to learn that one the hard way. It was nighttime, and we were getting ready to go home when the dragons came for the food. Every Viking in the village grabbed any weapon they could find. We got caught right in the middle of the chaos, weapons flying everywhere and striking down unlucky dragons. All of my siblings perished in the fight. Blaze and her parents were there, too. Her father, Burn, was the king's general. I didn't see what happened to them, but Blaze said she was the only one that made it out.

"I was following my parents out of the village, and my tail got stuck under a fallen pillar. I called out for my mother, and she came right over to help me. But my father saw something she didn't. Some Vikings with a crossbows at the ready, aimed at a dragon that was standing on the pillar. It flew away just as the Vikings let the arrows go."

He looked up at his trainer with tears in his eyes.

"It all happened so fast, I didn't see what happened. I pulled my tail free and looked up...and my parents had arrows in their bodies."

Toothless, who had been listening in, let out a sad croon in response.

"When they collapsed, I didn't know what to do. I just kept trying to help them up, even though I knew it was too late. My father died first, almost the moment he hit the ground. But my mother held on. She told me to run to the forest, where I'd be safe, but I didn't want to leave her. Then...she looked me right in the eye, and she said..."

He choked back a sob.

"She said, 'Don't be afraid. Follow your heart, wherever it may lead you. Be strong, be brave, be true.'"

He shifted his gaze to the ground. "My parents died right in front of me, and I couldn't do anything to help them."

Hiccup wanted to speak to Snivels, hold him, hug him, anything he could do to remind his friend that he was no longer alone. But he was still getting over the shock.

"I didn't know what else to do," said the Snivy, "So I ran. I wanted to get as far away from that island as possible, but I couldn't remember the way home. I'm still not sure how or when, but I found this island of peaceful villagers and thought it would be safe to spend a few nights there. A young trainer found me, around the same age as you were, and she took me in. Fed me, preened me, even made me a little bed to sleep in. After a while, I came to trust her. But she abandoned me. After that, I went under the ownership of many different people who wanted me as their partner, mainly to do work and fight their battles for them, and I abandoned them all because they didn't have the qualities I was looking for in a trainer. By the time winter came, I didn't have anywhere to go, so I took shelter in a cave that happened to be occupied by a Speed Stinger named Raptor. I understood enough of their language to explain my story, and he allowed me to stay in the cave with him for the winter. Even after winter was over, we kept running into each other and at one point he started to think of me as one of his own. When I got to Berk, I kept my distance from the village because of what happened before, but then I saw you being frowned upon and pushed around by people bigger than you, it made me remember how lost I had been. I thought it you had someone to talk to, you wouldn't feel so alone. It took a while, but I managed to learn how to speak like you could. I didn't tell you, or anyone else for that matter, where I came from, or what happened, because I was too afraid. I've been through a lot of bad times, and I've gotten tired of trying to run away from it all. Whatever happens next, I'm not running. Not now, not ever."

Finally, Hiccup reached out and picked Snivels up. Leaning back on Toothless, he placed the Snivy in his lap. "I'm so sorry," he said with sincerity. "I can't even imagine what it must have been like for you, but you're with friends now. If you need anything, I'm more than happy to help you."

Snivels looked up at his friend and managed a small smile. "My full name is Prince Snivels Siebold Snaketail," he said, "Son of King Solidago and Queen Salvia. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before."

Suddenly, there was a series of shrieks that pealed out into the otherwise silent air, and a group of five Terrible Terrors came flying right toward the small group of friends. Toothless growled as they landed, all scuttling at once toward the pile of fish Toothless held in front of him. Toothless growled again and pulled the fish closer to him possessively.

Not that the Terrors were in any way intimidated. One pair of them worked together to grab the half fish from Toothless, with one Terror distracting him and the other snatching the fish. That particular Terror sat down a safe distance from the larger dragon and began to eat. However, he was challenged by one of his comrades, and was forced to spit a burst of fire in that Terror's direction.

Toothless had been watching the fight from the sidelines with amusement, when he saw the fish pile move. Hiccup, Snivels and Verne observed with curiosity, and Toothless with annoyance, as a Terror crawled out from the pile with a fish in its mouth. Quickly, Toothless grabbed the other end of the fish and yanked. The fish split apart at the tail, leaving the single fin in the Terror's mouth.

It sat comically on its rump as Toothless gave it a kind of gurgling laugh. The Terror wasn't amused. It spat out the fish tail, clawed the dirt, and rose up on its hind legs with a shriek. A burst of gas appeared at the back of its throat as it prepared to light its fire.

Toothless, with a bored look on his face, beat the smaller dragon to it, casually spitting a small fire bolt straight into the Terror's mouth. The gas exploded, causing the Terror to swell up like a balloon, before it fell headfirst into the dirt with steam whistling out of its nose and mouth. Hiccup chuckled to himself. "Not so fireproof on the inside, are you?" he asked the little dragon, which stumbled away from Toothless in a drunken manner. "Here you go," he added, throwing it his own fish.

The morsel landed right in front of the dragon, instantly snapping it out of its daze. The Terror gulped the fish down whole, then approached Hiccup curiously. Hiccup relaxed, slumping down against Toothless while keeping his eye on the dragon.

Finally, its curiosity got the better of it, and the Terror climbed right up onto Hiccup's lap, next to Snivels. Like a scaly cat, it reached up with its head and gently nuzzled the two of them, then settled down to rest.

Hiccup stared at the sleeping dragon in his lap in wonder. It was hard to believe that this creature and its relatives were the very same ones that he had once hoped to kill. That _everyone_ hoped to kill. The idea was absurd now that he'd been spending so much time with what he now knew as quite a lovable beast.

"Everything we know about you guys," he breathed, gently stroking the docile Terror, "Is wrong."

The Terrible Terror, who was obviously not so terrible at all, continued to sleep in Hiccup's lap.

* * *

 **Now we know a little more about Snivels. Review, follow, or favorite!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: Romantic Flight

 **Now for the final test of battling dragons, and training Pokémon. And you can probably guess what also happens later on.**

* * *

After Hiccup and Snivels had gotten back (of course, they left Verne with Toothless in the cove), they went to the forge with the others. Hiccup sat at his desk, flicking his pencil with his index finger. Snivels told Amber all about what had happened earlier that day.

None of them had noticed Stoick and Brumous had arrived, until Hiccup turned his attention to the entrance. He quickly tried to hide his drawings of Toothless as he greeted them. "D-dad! You're back! Uh, Gobber's not here, so we..."

Stoick nodded as he and Brumous squeezed through the entrance. "I know, we came looking for you."

"Really?" Hiccup asked as he closed his sketchbook.

Stoick nodded again. "You've been keeping secrets," he said.

"I...I have?" Hiccup asked, trying to act casual.

"You and your Snivy," Stoick said.

"Does that count for me, too?" Amber asked.

It was then that Stoick finally noticed there was one extra Pokémon in the room. "What is going on here?"

Hiccup tried to act as casual as he could. "Oh, we sorta found her one night, she wasn't doing too well, so I brought her home, and...pretty much saved her life. And she really didn't have anywhere else to go, so I said that she could stay with us."

Stoick shook his head. "No one I have ever known on this island has had more than one partner," he said.

Hiccup shrugged. "That's something that I sort of wanted to talk to you about," he said.

"This was one of your secrets?" Stoick asked.

"I honestly have no idea what you're talking about..." Hiccup said nervously.

" _Nothing_ happens on this island without me knowing about it," Stoick said, seriously.

This caused Snivels to back up a step.

Stoick took a step closer to Hiccup, with Brumous guarding the entrance. "So, let's talk...about that dragon."

Hiccup knew that didn't sound good. Had Stoick found out about Toothless? "Dad, I am so sorry, I...I wanted to tell you, but I..." He was cut off when Stoick burst out laughing. Hiccup was stunned for a few seconds, and then he laughed nervously. "You're not upset?"

"What?" Stoick nearly shouted, "I was hoping for this!"

This confused Hiccup even more. "Y-you were?"

"And believe me, it only gets better!" Stoick continued. "Just wait until you spill a Nadder and Flygon's guts for the first time! And mount your first Gronckle and Sliggoo heads on a spear!"

Clearly, they weren't talking about the same thing.

Stoick was so happy, he nudged his son, but ended up pushing him into a barrel. "What a feeling! You really had me going there son! All those years of the worst Viking Berk has ever seen! Odin, it was rough! I almost gave up on you. But all the while, you were holding out to me! Oh, Thor almighty!" Hiccup gave his dad a look.

Snivels spared a glance at Brumous. Imagine his surprise when he saw the usually serious Beartic was smiling.

Stoick pulled up a chair. "With all of you doing so well in the ring, we finally have something to talk about."

The room got awkwardly quiet. Even Snivels didn't say anything. He still didn't trust Stoick enough to speak to him, after everything they'd been through. Whenever he did speak to the chief, however, it was always in defense.

After minutes of silence, Stoick finally decided to do what he came there for. Reaching behind him, he pulled out a recently made Viking helmet. "I brought you something," he straightened one of the horns, "To help keep you safe in the ring." He handed the helmet to his son.

Hiccup didn't know what to say. "Thanks, Dad." Stoick sighed. "Your mother would've wanted you to have it. It's half of her breastplate." Hiccup and his friends all wore matching expressions of surprise. Stoick tapped his own helmet. "Matching set. Keeps her close, you know." He gestured to the helmet he had given to Hiccup. "Wear it proudly."

Hiccup was still speechless. He set the helmet down on his desk, making sure to hold it by the horns. Snivels chose that moment to finally speak up. "Well, that was...an interesting conversation, uh, maybe we should be...resting."

Much to everyone's surprise, Stoick actually listened to Snivels this time. "Very well," he said, standing up, "Good talk."

Hiccup nodded. "Yeah. Thanks for the, uh..."

"The hat."

"The breast hat."

"Good night." Stoick then left, with Brumous following obediently.

Hiccup sighed.

For a while, the room was quiet once again. Snivels attempted to lighten the mood. "Well, that wasn't so bad!"

Hiccup and the others gave him a look. "Do you really think that this is a good time to be optimistic?" Hiccup asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

Snivels's smile immediately faded. "Well, someone has to be."

* * *

The Gronckle and the Sliggoo were, once again, left out of their cage. This time, however, it was only Hiccup and Astrid in the ring. The task was for them to take out the dragons, without using any Pokémon, to see how strong they had gotten individually. Snivels, Amber and Blaze all watched from the closed entrance to the arena. They all honestly thought that it wasn't much of a fair fight, with the dragon with its Pokémon partner, and them without any.

Both Hiccup and Astrid were hiding behind one of the wooden boards that had been set up in the arena. Hiccup was wearing the helmet that Stoick had given him. Astrid suddenly pulled down Hiccup's shield and looked him in the eyes. "Stay out of my way! I'm winning this thing." She held up her axe, making sure he got the message. She then proceeded to move to another wooden board.

Hiccup stood up, but didn't follow her. "Sure, please, by all means!" he called out to her. And that wasn't sarcasm.

He knew he had to let her win.

He looked up and saw Stoick and Brumous among the Vikings and Pokémon above the arena, looking down at him. As much as he didn't want to disappoint his dad, Hiccup didn't want to win the so-called honor of killing the Nightmare and Salamence. He didn't want it from the start. All he wanted was to survive the training.

As the Gronckle and the Sliggoo advanced, Astrid followed them by hiding behind the wooden boards. "This time," she said to herself, "This time for sure!" She then leaped out of her hiding place, charging out with a battle cry. But she stopped at the sight that met her eyes.

The two dragons were lying on their sides, the Gronckle's tongue lolling out to the side. Hiccup was leaning against the board, turned away from the two dragons. When he saw what was going on, he was completely confused.

But Astrid believed that this was his doing. "No!" She began swinging her axe around angrily, cursing mildly.

None of the Vikings knew for sure what had happened, but Snivels, Blaze and Amber had seen the whole thing.

The Sliggoo and the Gronckle had both recognized Hiccup from the previous sessions, and they both remembered how he had refused to fight them. So, they had decided to return the favor.

The entrance to the arena opened, and the Pokémon ran to meet their trainers. Snivels took the opportunity to explain to Hiccup what had happened as Stoick told everyone to be quiet. Hiccup tried to leave, but Gobber stopped him, picking him up and setting him down next to Astrid. If looks could kill, Hiccup would've been dead. He'd never seen Astrid so angry before. He remembered what Snivels had said. "Don't ever make Astrid angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry." And boy, was he right.

Stoick then raised his voice. "Quiet! The elder has decided." Snivels jumped up onto Hiccup's shoulder, as the others waited patiently next to their trainer. Gobber stood behind both of the teens and their Pokémon. He raised his hook above Astrid and Blaze. The elder shook her head. There were gasps and murmurs among the crowd. Then Gobber pointed at Hiccup and his team. The elder nodded and pointed at them.

That was it.

The crowd cheered loudly. "You've done it, Hiccup!" Gobber exclaimed, looking more excited than anyone had ever seen him. "You've done it! You get to kill the dragons!" Everyone was cheering and shouting Hiccup's name. Except for Astrid, of course. The other teens and Pokémon rushed up to Hiccup and his Pokémon. Fishlegs hoisted Hiccup up on his shoulder, causing Snivels to grip his trainer tightly, due to how far he was off of the ground. "That's my boy!" roared Stoick over the noise. Snivels glared at the chief, with no one noticing.

"Yes! Yes!" Hiccup kept saying, each time sounding more unenthusiastic than the last. But no one noticed, so great was their own enthusiasm. "Yes, we are so..."

* * *

"Leaving!" he finished, then called out to Toothless and Verne, who were momentarily nowhere in sight. "We're leaving! Let's pack up… looks like we're all taking a little vacation...forever." Snivels and Amber went to look for the two dragons.

Hiccup was carrying an empty basket on his shoulder, which he would use to carry the fish he'd collect later for the journey. He bent down behind a large boulder to put down the basket and readjust his riding gear. Snivels ran back over to him, in case he needed help.

As Hiccup stood up, he and Snivels heard a low, scraping noise. They directed their attention up to the top of the boulder. There, sitting on the boulder and sharpening her axe with a small rock, as if she didn't have a care in the world, was Astrid.

Hiccup was so surprised, he stumbled backward. "What the...! W-what are you doing here?" He noticed Blaze leaning up against the side of the boulder, giving an almost apologetic look. Astrid didn't look at him right away. Instead, she held her blade to the light and examined it, whilst throwing away the stone. Then, she said idly, "I want to know what's going on."

Astrid hopped off of the rock and continued, more menacingly, "No one just gets as good as you do – _especially_ you." She shifted her axe from hand to hand and glared at him. Hiccup wisely tried to back off.

Snivels, who believed that there wasn't much he could do, watched from the side with Blaze as Astrid continued to question Hiccup. "Start talking," she ordered. "Are you training with someone? It better not involve this..." she added, grabbing his riding vest.

Futilely, he tried to play it cool. "Uh, I know _this_ looks really bad, but, uh..."

There was a sudden warble, followed by a squeak, from the other side of the cove. Startled, Astrid threw Hiccup to the ground and headed toward where the noises had come from. Hoping to distract her, Hiccup said quickly, "You're right! You're right! I'm through with the lies! I've been making...outfits!" Astrid didn't even glance his way, so focused was she on investigating whatever had made those noises.

Hiccup moved in front of her line of sight and continued frantically, "So, you got me. It's time everyone knew. Drag me back, go ahead. Here we go..." Astrid glanced at him furiously and twisted his arm. "OW!" he yelled in pain, and falling to the ground. "Why would you _do_ that?!"

Standing over him, Astrid viciously kicked him, sending him flat against the ground. "That's for the lies," she growled, "And that's..." she hit him in the stomach with the blunt end of her axe, "For everything else."

There was a growl, and Astrid looked around cautiously. "Oh, man," Hiccup muttered.

Toothless and Verne turned toward the sound of their friend's voice and saw Astrid. The yellow-green eyes of the Night Fury were the first thing she saw. She gasped and screamed, "Get down!" She threw Hiccup to the ground. Toothless then charged forward with a roar. Astrid quickly stood up, readying her axe, and shouted, "Run!" Hiccup threw himself at her, ripping the weapon out of her grasp and throwing it aside.

Just as Toothless reached them, two sets of vines came out of nowhere and wrapped around his neck. Snivels was using Vine Whip to hold the angry dragon back. Hiccup seized the opportunity to calm Toothless down. "No, Toothless, it's okay!" He turned back to see that Blaze was helping Astrid up. He turned back to the dragon. "They're friends," he said gently.

Toothless stopped his wild flapping and leaping to gaze at him skeptically. Snivels released the dragon from his Vine Whip and went to join their trainer with Amber and Verne, the latter of which flew over and perched on Hiccup's shoulder.

Hiccup turned to Astrid and Blaze. "You just scared him," he said.

" _We_ scared _him_?!" she exclaimed in response, then all of a sudden calmed herself. "Who...is _him_?" she added, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Hiccup gulped nervously, and hesitantly introduced them. "Uh, Astrid...Toothless! Toothless...Astrid." The dragon glared even more ferociously and snarled loudly, immediately contradicting his name.

Snivels stepped forward and pointed up at the bat-like Pokémon perched on his trainer's shoulder. "That's Verne," he said.

Astrid then glared at them, and with Blaze following, she turned and ran for the exit.

Hiccup and the others watched her leave. "Da, da, da, we're dead," Hiccup commented.

Snivels shook his head. "Not yet, we aren't." He turned to Toothless, who glared, and turned around, heading back to his previous spot.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Hiccup protested, "Where do you think you're going?"

* * *

 _Hiccup has a dragon!_ That singular thought echoed again and again in Astrid's mind incessantly, driving her to run faster. Blaze was following, but had very little intention of letting the other Vikings know the truth. But her loyalty to her trainer kept her running. Astrid glanced back to see if Blaze was following her. She was. However, she was so focused on getting back to the village, that she didn't hear the sound of beating wings.

Toothless then swooped in and grabbed Astrid and Blaze in his talons. Astrid screamed. "Oh, great Odin's ghost! Oh, this is it!" She screamed longer and louder than she ever had before. Blaze tried to cover her ears, and she closed her eyes, not wanting to see how far they were off the ground.

Hiccup flew Toothless towards a very tall tree. The Night Fury dropped Astrid and Blaze on a sturdy branch near the top, and landed right above them. The frightened warrior and her Pokémon gripped the branch tightly. "Hiccup!" Astrid yelled, "Get us down from here!" She wasn't in the best position to be giving him commands, but it just came naturally.

"You have to give me a chance to explain!" Hiccup pleaded.

"We are not listening to _anything_ you have to say!" Was Astrid's response. However, Blaze was wearing an expression that suggested the opposite.

"Then I won't speak," Hiccup said gently, "Just let me show you." He paused, then added, "Please, Astrid?"

Astrid scoffed, but pulled herself up. Balancing on the branch, she pulled Blaze up. The two of them cautiously made their way over to Hiccup's position. Toothless growled as they came near. Hiccup offered his hand, but Astrid slapped it away. She then hoisted herself up on the saddle, and pulled Blaze up behind her. Astrid then cautiously wrapped her arms around Hiccup's torso. "Now get us down," she told him in a tremulous voice.

"Toothless, down," Hiccup told the dragon, slowly and clearly. Then he added with emphasis, "Gently." Obediently, the Night Fury spread its wings and readied for takeoff.

"See?" said Hiccup confidently, "Nothing to worry about."

But Toothless wasn't through yet. The dragon launched himself straight up into the sky, climbing higher and higher. Astrid screamed as she and Blaze were pushed back off of the saddle, desperately holding on with all their might. "Toothless! What are you doing?!" Hiccup shouted, "Bad dragon!" Astrid desperately reached up and grabbed Hiccup's face, pulling herself up and readjusting her grip on his torso. Blaze pulled herself up by grabbing onto Astrid.

Hiccup turned to look at Astrid. "He's not usually like this," he tried to explain. But then, Toothless folded his wings and dropped like a rock. "Oh, no," Hiccup muttered.

Minutes later, they hit the water, Toothless diving in as deep as he could. They surfaced briefly, only to crash back down again. "Toothless, what are you doing? We need them to like us!" Hiccup shouted the second they surfaced again.

But Toothless shot up into the sky, not listening to what Hiccup was saying. The Night Fury then started spinning like a corkscrew. "And now the spinning," Hiccup said, somehow retaining his sarcastic sense of humor. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile." Toothless then started free falling back down to the ocean.

Blaze couldn't hold back anymore. It was time for her to reveal the truth. "Apologize to him!" she shouted to Astrid.

Both Astrid and Hiccup were shocked. "What?!" they said in unison.

"I said apologize to him!" Blaze said again.

But Astrid was too shocked to listen. "You can talk?!"

"JUST APOLOGIZE!" Blaze screamed at the top of her lungs.

Astrid was still pretty shocked about how Blaze could talk, but she knew she had no other choice. "Okay, I'm sorry!" she shouted, closing her eyes tightly, and hugging Hiccup's torso. "I'm sorry! Just get us off of this thing!"

Luckily for her, Toothless heard her, and his expression softened. He spread his wings, catching a strong thermal, and shot into the sky once again. This time, the flight was more smooth and calm, unlike the way he had been doing the air stunts earlier. He flapped his wings, and brought them all up into the clouds.

Blaze tapped on Astrid's shoulder gently. The frightened girl hesitantly opened her eyes. The sight that met her was unlike anything she had experienced. They were flying high in the clouds, the sunset highlighting the ocean beneath them. The scene had some sort of romantic theme, which is what Toothless had intended.

Astrid looked up at the clouds above them, reaching up and touching it. It felt cool and wet. Feeling more confident, Astrid reached up with both hands, feeling the clouds refreshing texture.

Hiccup was as amazed as Astrid was, if not more. Blaze smiled to herself, enjoying her trainer's attempts to make the most out of the moment. It seemed that the tough Viking warrior had finally opened her heart.

When they finally rose above the clouds, it was nighttime. The night sky was decorated with hundreds of stars, shining bright. To add to the beauty, the sky lit up in a flash of colors. The northern lights.

The clouds beneath them parted, revealing the village of Berk. Toothless took a minute to glance back, and saw all that all of his riders were smiling.

Enchanted by the beautiful view, Astrid hugged Hiccup closer. Hiccup was temporarily surprised, but then he smiled.

Toothless carved a big turn, away from the village and back over the ocean. Astrid looked around, gazing up at the stars above them. "Alright, I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's...amazing. He's amazing." She leaned in to look at Toothless, patting his flank. The dragon crooned softly. Astrid looked back up at Hiccup. _You're amazing, too,_ she said in her thoughts.

Suddenly, they heard a voice. "It's amazing until you fall off of the dragon."

Hiccup turned to look at the saddlebag hanging on Toothless's side. "Snivels?" Sure enough, the Snivy opened the flap of the saddlebag and poked his head out. "Snivels, what in the...when did you...what are you doing here?!"

Snivels shrugged. "Hey, wherever my trainer goes, I go," he said, matter-of-factly.

Hiccup rolled his eyes, and turned his attention to the area in front of them. Astrid decided to break the silence. "So, what now?" Hiccup's only response was a sigh. Astrid's eyes widened. "Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow! You know you guys are gonna have to kill..."

"Shh, don't!" Snivels interrupted, pointing urgently at Toothless.

Astrid finished her statement in a whisper, "Kill dragons."

Hiccup groaned, "Don't remind me."

Just then, the Night Fury dove down into a thick blanket of fog. "Toothless, what's happening?" Hiccup asked as they descended.

"He's bringing us to..." Snivels began, but trailed off as the sounds of several creatures surrounded them from in the fog.

Blaze finished for him. "The dragons' nest."

* * *

 **So, Team Hiccup has won the "honor" of killing the dragons, Astrid discovered Toothless, Blaze revealed that she could talk, and Snivels was hiding in the saddlebag throughout the whole flight. And apparently, Verne had been following them the whole time as well. Review, follow, or favorite!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Revelations in the Ring

 **The finding of the dragons' nest, the first appearance of the Red Death, and the final exam in the ring.**

* * *

The group of friends anxiously flew through the thick fog, unable to see anything ahead of them. Suddenly, a Monstrous Nightmare and a Salamence appeared next to them, each holding a large fish in their claws. "Get down!" Hiccup whispered urgently. He, Astrid, and Blaze flattened themselves against Toothless's back, trying not to be seen. Snivels ducked back into the saddlebag, keeping the flap open just enough so he could still see what was happening.

As the fog cleared up a bit, the small group suddenly found themselves surrounded by hundreds of dragons and Dragon-Types, all carrying food in their talons and jaws, and in some cases, their paws.

Hiccup looked at a Monstrous Nightmare flying beside them. The dragon was holding a dead sheep in its talons. "It looks like they're hauling in their kill," he said quietly.

"What does that make us?" Astrid asked nervously.

A Zippleback and Zweilous next to them noticed the Night Fury, and seemed to pay no attention to the humans and Pokémon with them.

The dragons all dove down toward the water, still clutching their food. Toothless followed them, his riders doing their best not to scream. The Night Fury swiveled through the rock spires ahead, following the other dragons. In a few minutes, the fog lifted, revealing a rocky island with a dormant volcano in the middle of it.

The dragons' nest.

All of the dragons, including Toothless, flew into a tunnel on the side of the volcano, inside the nest. And ominous orange glow appeared at the end of the tunnel, lighting up the inside of the nest. A massive cave, an orange-red glow lighting it up so the dragons could see. Giant rock spires provided the dragons with a place to rest. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this," Hiccup said.

"They're all pretty frightened," Snivels said.

"How can you tell?" asked Astrid. She meant to sound sarcastic, but her tone made it sound more curious than anything else.

"I speak many languages," Snivels said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Came in handy when a Speed Stinger let me in for the winter after I lost my family."

Astrid's expression changed to an annoyed glare. "You're making that up," she accused.

Snivels scoffed. "Come on, Astrid, does that sound like something someone would make up?"

Before they had a chance to continue the conversation, Toothless steered over to an abandoned rock spire, positioning himself so that he and his riders could watch the dragons coming in and dropping the food somewhere into the nest.

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole," Hiccup said, sarcastically.

A Deadly Nadder and a Flygon each dropped a large fish into the hole.

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid said.

"And you're about to see why," Snivels said, pointing to a Gronckle and Sliggoo that had just arrived.

The stout dragon flew over to the hole, and spat a small mackerel into it. There was a loud roar, and the Gronckle tried to fly away, but it was too slow. A large set of jaws rose out of the hole, closing around the Gronckle and Sliggoo, swallowing them whole.

"What...is that?" Astrid asked fearfully as all of the dragons retreated into the shadows to hid from the behemoth.

"We call it the Red Death," Snivels said, his voice trembling with fear. "Huge, merciless, and always hungry."

The Red Death lowered its head back into the misty hole, but then it rose again, its large nostrils catching the scent of the humans. Hiccup leaned down and patted Toothless's neck. "Toothless, we gotta get out of here."

The Red Death turned its head in their direction.

"NOW!"

Toothless quickly took off, barely avoiding the jaws of the Red Death. This sent all of the dragons into a frenzy, trying to get away from the monstrous titan. The Red Death tried to grab them again, but its jaws closed on a Zippleback and Zweilous. Feeling satisfied, the giant dragon lowered back into the nest, waiting for the next round of food that the dragons would bring it.

* * *

"No, it totally makes sense," Astrid said as they returned to the cove, "It's like a giant beehive. They're the workers, and that's their queen. It controls them."

They made it back to the cove, and Toothless landed by the lake. Amber and Verne watched from the side as their friends arrived.

Astrid and Blaze were the first to dismount. "Let's find your dad," Astrid said to Hiccup.

Wide-eyed at her suggestion, Hiccup quickly dismounted and ran after them. "No, no! Not now, they'll...kill Toothless! Astrid, we have to think this through, carefully."

Astrid looked at him skeptically. "Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' nest! The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your _pet_ dragon?! Are you serious?!"

Hiccup looked at her, and said surely and confidently, "Yes."

The minute she heard him say that, Astrid's expression softened. There was no resemblance of the tough and stubborn Astrid in her expression.

Slightly embarrassed, Hiccup turned away.

Astrid shrugged. "Okay, then what do we do?" she asked quietly.

Hiccup sighed, "Just give us until tomorrow. We'll figure something out."

Astrid nodded. "Okay." Then, without warning, she punched him in the arm. "That's for kidnapping me," she said, matter-of-factly.

Startled and confused, Hiccup turned to Toothless and Snivels. The black dragon was drinking from the lake, with Snivels standing next to them. The Snivy noticed his friend's expression and shrugged.

Astrid then nervously brushed some strands of hair out of her eyes. She grabbed Hiccup by the front of his shirt, pulled him in, and kissed him on the cheek. "That's for...everything else." She turned and walked away.

Both Hiccup and Blaze just stood there, surprised at what Astrid had just done. Astrid turned to look back, and Blaze hurried up to her. The two of them took of running, heading for the exit of the cove.

Hiccup continued to watch them as they left. He still couldn't believe what had just happened. The girl that had hated him hours ago had just kissed him. Sure, it was on the cheek, but still.

Toothless and Snivels suddenly came up from behind their friend. "I think that date went pretty well," said the Snivy with a smirk.

Startled, Hiccup very nearly fell backward at his friend's teasing remark. Toothless warbled questionably, prompting Hiccup to ask him, "What are you looking at?"

Toothless did his best to shrug.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Blaze asked as she and Astrid stopped to rest in the forest while on their way back to the village.

The shieldmaiden had a completely different topic in mind. "How are you able to talk?"

Blaze sighed. "Remember when we started training together? Here in the forest?"

Astrid nodded wordlessly.

"You said that I should watch and learn," Blaze said. "And I did. I watched you, and I learned how to talk because of you. You taught me more than just how to fight. I learned more about you than I ever thought I could. And I didn't tell you because I was worried about what you'd think. It's no mystery that you've been rather judgmental, especially when it came to Hiccup. I wasn't sure exactly what to do, but I knew I had to trust and obey you, so I did."

As she listened, a heavy wave of guilt fell over Astrid. "I'm sorry, Blaze. I know I should have been more open-minded."

Blaze just nodded to show that she had accepted her friend's apology. "So, what was that all about back there?" She then added when Astrid gave her a look of confusion, "You know, the kiss?"

Astrid's eyes widened, then, in a completely uncharacteristic manner, she stammered nervously. "I...I think I...I think..."

Blaze raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently for her trainer to finish.

Finally, Astrid managed to blurt out, "I think I love him."

Blaze smiled. "Believe it or not, I was hoping you'd say that. Me and Snivels have been trying to find a way to get you two together. Mostly because we knew that he had feelings for you. And to think, all it took was for you go off on a flight with him on his dragon friend, and just like that, you're in love with him. I've been waiting for the right time to try and convince you that he's not a bad person to be with. At least give him a chance."

"I'll try to," Astrid said. Then her expression turned serious. "But do not tell _anyone_ about this. Especially not Hiccup!"

Blaze sighed disappointedly. "Alright, fine, I won't tell." She turned and started to lead the way back to the village, then stopped, looked over her shoulder, and stated, plain as day, "But you should." Then she continued her way through the forest, casting glances back to make sure her trainer was still following.

Whenever Blaze wasn't looking, Astrid smiled to herself as she and her partner made their way back home. _Blaze is right about Hiccup,_ she thought to herself. _He's different, but in a good way. He's amazing._ Her smile faded a little as another thought crossed her mind.

 _How did not notice it sooner?_

* * *

The cheering of the crowd was loud and deafening. Everyone on the island, Viking and Pokémon alike, had shown up to watch Hiccup and his friends fight and kill the dragons. They had gained the respect of the entire village in the past few weeks, but they didn't want it. Not with the price it came with.

Stoick's voice boomed over the cheering crowd. "Well, we can show our faces in public again!" He gestured to Brumous next to him, and the Beartic growled in approval.

"If someone told me that in a few short weeks, Hiccup would go from being, well...Hiccup, to placing first in dragon training, then I would have tied him to a mast and shipped him off, for fear he'd gone mad!"

This time, he laughed along with the crowd. "And you all know it!" When everyone had quieted down, Stoick adjusted his helmet and continued in a solemn voice, "But here we are. And no one is more surprised, or more proud, than I am. Today, my boy becomes a Viking. Today, he becomes one of us!"

The crowd cheered the loudest yet, excited for the battle that was about to begin.

Hiccup, Snivels, and Amber were standing in the shadows of the entrance to the arena. Snivels was perched on Hiccup's shoulder, and he frowned at the thought of Hiccup becoming a Viking. Of becoming _one of them_. One of the many Vikings that he despised since day one. Minus Hiccup and Astrid, of course. After what had happened last night, the Snivy knew that he could trust her.

"Be careful with those dragons," said a voice behind them. Hiccup knew it was Astrid, and there was no doubt that Blaze was with her.

"It's not the dragons I'm worried about," Hiccup replied. He watched his ecstatic father walk over to a rocky throne.

Astrid was silent for a second. Then - "What are you going to do?"

"Put an end to this," he told her, "We have to try." He turned to face her. "Astrid, if something goes wrong, please help us make sure they don't find Toothless and Verne."

"We will," Astrid said, "Just promise me it won't go wrong."

He didn't get a chance to respond before Gobber and Norward moved past them, heading out of the arena. "It's time, Hiccup," the blacksmith said with a chuckle. "Knock 'em dead."

Hiccup walked into the arena, unwilling to betray his fear. Snivels gave Amber a parting glance as the door to the arena closed, locking him and his trainer in. Hiccup lifted his helmet onto his head, trying to seem brave.

He headed over to the weapons rack, grabbing a shield and a dagger before turning to face the cage that held the dragons he and his partner would be facing. "We're ready," Hiccup murmured, holding his shield up.

Slowly, but surely, two Vikings outside the arena unlocked the cage that held the Nightmare and Salamence. The minute the doors were unlocked, the Nightmare burst out of its cage, covered in flames. It snapped its jaws and lunged up onto the chains above the arena, trying to find a way out. Salamence then emerged and flew around the opposite side of the arena, also looking for a way out.

The Nightmare clawed across the chain roof, shooting a blast of fire that the Vikings and Pokémon outside the arena barely avoided. The Nightmare clawed its way over to where its partner was, the two of them exchanging growls of disappointment. It was the Salamence that spotted Hiccup and his friends. It gestured with its head to show the Nightmare they weren't alone.

The dragons eyed the group of friends, the Nightmare climbing down onto the floor, and the Salamence flying down to the same level. All of the people outside the arena leaned in to get a better look. "Go on, give it to 'em!" a Viking in the crowd shouted. But Hiccup and Snivels barely heard him.

Snivels jumped down from Hiccup's shoulder, advancing on the Salamence with a look of submission. The Salamence stared at the Snivy in wonder. Why was his opponent not fighting him?

The Monstrous Nightmare slowly stacked forwards, its eyes narrowed. Despite his fear, Hiccup dropped his shield and dagger, extending his hands cautiously. The crowd gasped quietly and muttered amongst themselves, even as the dragon advanced on the now defenseless young trainer.

The Nightmare growled warningly. "It's okay," Hiccup murmured softly, "It's okay."

The Nightmare still seemed unsure. Its eyes darted up at the helmet resting on Hiccup's head.

Taking a deep breath, Hiccup reached up, and took off his helmet. "I'm not one of them."

In one swift motion, he threw the helmet away, letting it clatter to the arena floor. The Nightmare's eyes followed the helmet, then landed back on Hiccup. Its pupils widened a bit, and it made no move to attack.

"Stop the fight," ordered Stoick, having seen enough.

"No!" Hiccup told him in a surprisingly fierce voice. "I need you all to see this!"

He advanced on the dragon, holding out his hand. "They're not what we think they are," he said with complete confidence. "We don't have to kill them." The Nightmare calmly moved his head forward, allowing Hiccup's hand to rest on its snout.

"I said STOP THE FIGHT!" roared Stoick, furiously bashing his hammer on the metal bars that covered the arena.

The series of loud clangs startled the Nightmare, its pupils thinning into slits. It roared, and Hiccup ran screaming, barely avoiding the Salamence's tail as it too started thrashing at all the noise.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted. But he barely heard her. She turned to some of the weapons hanging on the wall and grabbed an axe. Using the blade, she pried open the gateway just enough to squeeze under it.

Hiccup desperately tried to dodge the attacks of the angry Nightmare, with Snivels hastening to dodge the flames. Astrid ran over to the collapsed weapon rack and grabbed a hammer, throwing it at the Nightmare and hitting it in the snout. The Nightmare turned its attention to her and charged.

"No!" Hiccup shouted, desperately. "Leave her alone!"

The Salamence threw itself between the Nightmare and the trainer who had dared to attack it. The rampaging dragon merely leaped over its partner and continued on its destructive path.

The arena gate was heaved open by Stoick and Brumous. The chief motioned to them and shouted, "This way!" The two trainers ran for him, desperate and hoping to get out of the arena alive.

Stoick grabbed Astrid, throwing her aside where she would be safe. He held out his hand to Hiccup, but the Monstrous Nightmare shot its sticky fire at them. The flame splatted against the post next to the gateway, throwing Hiccup off balance. Not even a second later, the enraged dragon was on top of him, pinning him to the ground with its claw. Snivels courageously threw himself onto the Monstrous Nightmare's back, intending to save his friend.

Just then, a high pitched shriek filled the air as Toothless and Verne appeared out of nowhere. The black dragon shot a blast of fire at the bars surrounding the arena. The metal bars burst apart, and the two dragons flew into the arena. The blast had covered the arena in a layer of smoke, and everyone outside the arena clambered over each other to see what was going on.

The Nightmare lifted away from Hiccup, and emerged from the smoke to reveal Toothless on its back, snarling and clawing at the larger dragon ferociously.

"Night Fury!" Gobber gasped.

Toothless and the Nightmare continued to battle, Toothless soon being pinned to the ground, but he was able to deflect the larger dragon's attacks. The Nightmare was knocked backwards, and Toothless got up, growling and snapping at it. The Nightmare hesitated, then slinked away in defeat.

Knowing the fight was over, Hiccup ran up to his dragon friend. "Toothless, go, get out of here!" But Toothless didn't go. Vikings and their Pokémon came into the arena, wanting to battle with the new dragon. Hiccup began pushing Toothless more urgently. "Go! Go!"

Stoick grabbed a hammer off of the wall of the gateway, and charged into the arena, with Brumous following. Hiccup protested, "Dad, no! He won't hurt you!" Toothless then began knocking away the Vikings and Pokémon that attempted to restrain him.

"No, Toothless!" Snivels shouted over all the commotion. "Don't be the monster they think you are!"

The Night Fury hesitated, then fired a blast of blue flame that knocked the weapon out of Stoick's hand. Skidding to a halt, the chief examined his now-empty hand to make sure he hadn't lost any fingers.

For a brief moment, everything was calm and silent.

Suddenly, a Viking slugged Toothless right in the face, and the Night Fury toppled over. Vikings and their partners closed in from all directions, firmly holding the Night Fury down, his head on the floor of the arena, so he couldn't breathe fire.

Hiccup tried to rush forward and help Toothless, but Astrid held him back. "No, please...don't hurt him!" Hiccup pleaded, but no one was listening.

A terrified Verne shrieked and flew right out through the hole Toothless had blasted to get into the arena. He wanted to help his friends so badly, but the poor little Noibat wasn't really sure what he could do.

Stoick, who looked ready to burst with anger, glared down at the poor Night Fury. "Put it with the others."

* * *

 **That last part - not my favorite moment to write thus far.**

 **Please review and stay tuned for the next update.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Getting Ready for Battle

 **I'm sure you'll agree that what happened in the ring was intense. Other than what the title suggests, we'll also be introduced to some added characters.**

* * *

Hiccup had never seen Stoick so mad before. The two of them entered the Great Hall for a private talk, though Hiccup had actually been shoved inside. Brumous was left outside to guard, making sure that none of Hiccup's friends tried to follow them in.

"I should have known," Stoick muttered, "I should have seen the signs." He walked past Hiccup, and then turned and yelled, "We had a deal!"

Hiccup tried to defend himself. "I knw we did, but that was before I...oh, it's all so messed up."

"So everything in the ring, a trick?! A lie?!"

"I screwed up," Hiccup admitted, "I should have told you, I just...take this out on me, be mad at me! Please, just don't hurt Toothless."

That was enough to send Stoick into an even bigger rage. "The dragon? That's what you're worried about?! Not the people you almost killed?!"

"He was just protecting me!" Hiccup insisted, "He's not dangerous!"

"They've killed hundreds of us!" roared Stoick.

"And we've killed thousands of them!" Hiccup shot back. Stoick rolled his eyes in frustration and began to pace.

"They defend themselves, that's all!" Hiccup continued to protest, "They raid us because they have to! If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves! There's something else on their island! It's a dragon like..."

Stoick stopped pacing at what he heard. "Their island? So, you've been to the nest."

"Did I say nest?" Hiccup asked, trying to cover his slip.

"How did you find it?" Stoick asked, demanding.

"I didn't," Hiccup admitted, "Toothless did. Only a dragon can find the island."

Stoick's eyes widened. He had gotten an idea. And it wasn't a good one.

Hiccup noticed the look in his father's eyes. "Oh, no. Please, Dad, no! You don't know what you're up against, it's like nothing you've ever seen!" But Stoick wasn't listening. He headed to the door. Hiccup followed him, still trying to talk him out of it. "Dad, I promise you, you can't win this one! Dad? For once in your life, would you please just listen to me?!" He rushed forward and grabbed Stoick's arm, but his father simply pushed him back. Hiccup landed hard on the wooden floor.

Stoick then stopped walking and turned to face the now frightened boy. "You've thrown you're lot in with them. You're not a Viking." He paused, then finished, "You're not my son."

He then turned and stomped out of the Great Hall, leaving Hiccup there, frightened and in shock.

"READY THE SHIPS!" the chief demanded as he slammed the door to the hall.

Snivels and Amber peeked in to see their trainer lying on the ground. "What now?" the Charmander asked.

Snivels didn't answer. He was too busy glaring angrily at the retreating chief.

* * *

In just a few minutes, the whole village was down at the docks, loading many weapons and shields onto the ships. They also loaded a chained-up Toothless, muzzled and restrained tightly, struggling to break free.

Hiccup and his friends watched helplessly from up on the cliffs as their dragon friend was loaded onto the main ship.

Stoick noticed all of them up there, but he pretended not to notice them. He turned to the chained dragon, who was glaring at him. "Lead us home...devil."

 _If there's any devil around here, it's you,_ Toothless said in his thoughts, _Soon you'll find out that my friends were telling the truth. Maybe then you'll learn to listen to others._ He didn't struggle as the ships set sail for the dragons' nest.

* * *

Hiccup refused to leave the spot he was at, and his friends made no move to leave him there alone. So, they were all still there by late afternoon, long after the fleet of ships had vanished on the horizon.

Astrid and Blaze had come there looking for them, and were now standing next to them, staring out at the ocean like they were.

The silence was broken when Astrid said, "It's a mess." Hiccup didn't look at her, but he was listening. "You must feel horrible. You've lost nearly everything. Your father, your tribe, one of your best friends."

Hiccup sighed. "Thank you for summing that up."

There was a brief moment of silence before he asked quietly, "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods? It would have been better for everyone."

Snivels didn't look very convinced.

Astrid shrugged. "Yep, the rest of us would have done it," she said. She then turned to Hiccup. "So why didn't you?"

Hiccup didn't answer her.

Snivels looked up at his friend. "Why didn't you?" he asked.

Hiccup sighed. "I don't know. I couldn't."

Blaze frowned. "That's not an answer."

"Why is this so important to you guys all of a sudden?" asked an annoyed Hiccup.

"Because we want to remember what you say, right now," Astrid said. _When it matters most,_ she added in her thoughts.

Now frustrated, Hiccup groaned, "Oh, for the love of...I was a coward! I was weak! I wouldn't kill a dragon!"

"You said 'wouldn't' that time," Snivels pointed out.

"Whatever! I wouldn't!" Hiccup exclaimed, at his wit's end. "Three hundred years, and I'm the first Viking who _wouldn't_ kill a dragon!"

After that, all were silent. Embarrassed, Hiccup turned away from his friends.

A moment later, Astrid spoke up. "First to ride one, though."

And not only that, he was also the first boy who had impressed her. She kept that fact in mind as she waited for him to respond.

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was," Hiccup told them, and they all listened, enraptured. "I looked at him, and I saw myself." He then turned to Astrid, who was looking out at the ocean.

"I bet he's really frightened now," she said. She then turned back to Hiccup. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Hiccup shrugged. "Probably something stupid," he said.

Astrid smiled. "Good, but you've already done that," she said in an almost patronizing tone.

All eyes were on Hiccup, hoping that he had some kind of plan. He did have an idea, it would be a long shot, but it could work. "Then, something crazy," he said, heading for the arena.

Astrid's smile widened. "That's more like it."

* * *

Meanwhile, the fleet of ships had just made it to the place where they had last tried to get to the nest. As they sailed on, the first thing they noticed was that there weren't any dragons this time.

"Sound your positions and stay within earshot," Stoick ordered, not taking his eyes off the blanket of fog that lay ahead.

A nervous Gobber was suddenly there next to him. "Listen, Stoick, I was overhearing some of the men just now, and some of them, not me, are wondering what it is we are up to here. Not me, of course, I know you're always the man with the plan, but some, not me, are wondering if there is, in fact, a plan at all and what it might be?"

"We find the nest and take it," Stoick said bluntly.

That didn't settle Gobber's nerves in the slightest. "Ah, of course, send them running with the old Viking fallback, nice and simple."

Stoick looked over his shoulder at the chained Night Fury, whose eyes had been locked on the wooden deck for the entirety of their journey. Had Toothless raised his head, the Vikings would have seen sadness and fear in his eyes. He wanted to be free, he wanted to fly into the clouds, but most of all, he wanted his friends.

Toothless heard a noise, so he shifted his ear to try and find where it was coming from. Stoick noticed this and commanded the still yammering Gobber to shush. The chief moved to the back of ship and pushed aside the Viking in charge of the rudder, grabbing it so he could steer the ship himself.

Toothless's head snapped up, almost against his own will, and he turned in the direction where the sound he heard was coming from. Smiling triumphantly, Stoick moved the rudder so the ship was sailing in the same way the Night Fury was looking.

* * *

Not much later after they left the docks, Hiccup and his friends were standing in front of the cage that held the Monstrous Nightmare and the Salamence. They heard footsteps behind them, and turned to see that Astrid and Blaze had gathered the other teens and Pokémon.

"If you're all planning on getting eaten," Fishlegs said skeptically, "I'd definitely go with the Gronckle and Sliggoo."

Snivels gave him a look.

Tuffnut and Sarin stepped forward. "It was wise of you guys to seek help from the world's most deadly weapons...that's us."

They were then pushed aside by Snotlout and Heat. "I love this plan!"

Snotlout and his partner were then pushed aside by Ruffnut and Ricin. "You guys are crazy...I like that."

Before Ruffnut could do or say anything else, Astrid and Blaze then moved them out of the way. "So, what is the plan?"

Snivels jumped up onto Hiccup's shoulder. "Remember how we busted out of the nest last night?" he asked.

Astrid and Blaze both gave him a curt nod.

Hiccup and Snivels looked at each other and smiled. "Good," Snivels said, "'Cause that's the same way we're gonna bust in."

"Wait," Snotlout said suddenly. Everyone turned to look at him. "You mean that we're going to bust into the dragons' _nest_?"

Snivels jumped down from Hiccup's shoulder. "We're gonna need more than just their help," he said. He then cuffed his hands around his mouth and let out a really loud and shrill shrieking noise that echoed off of the cliffs surrounding the arena.

When Snivels stopped, there was a similar-sounding shriek from off in the distance. Seconds later, green and red blurs came speeding into the arena, making a stop in front of one of the gates.

Speed Stingers.

It wasn't a pack of them, though, not when there was only two of them. Additionally, both dragons looked relatively young, like they'd only just reached adulthood. If Hiccup were to guess, it was very likely that these two had left their packs to start their own less than a year ago.

Snivels let out a draconic chirp, a lot shorter and quieter than the shriek he'd done just moments ago. The two flightless dragons turned in the direction of the sound and saw the young Snivy. The male, who was easily distinguishable thanks to his red fins and stripes, advanced on Snivels.

"Hey, Raptor," the Snivy greeted casually. "Remember me from the cave? I know it's been a while, but we've crossed paths many times, and I really need your help right now."

The Lead Stinger stopped right in front of him. The dragon then leaned down, and nuzzled Snivels with a friendly croon.

Snivels laughed. "It's nice to see you, too. Who's your friend?"

The less colorful female padded forward, at Raptor's urging, and copied the male's action of nuzzling the Snivy, chirping her name in her own language.

"Nice to meet you, Streak," said Snivels. He then directed to a genuinely shocked Astrid, "And you thought I made it up!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the ships continued sailing through the thick fog, following Toothless's gaze as he tracked the sound that was undoubtedly coming from the nest. In the way, the ship passed by a sea stack that had what used to be one of their ships that had previously sailed on the very same mission they were on.

Hoping to relieve some of the tension, Gobber joked, "I was wondering where that went." That earned him an annoyed eye roll from Norward.

Toothless struggled to break out of his bonds as they drew nearer to the nest, but with little success. The ship thudded against a rocky shore, and the fog lifted to reveal none other than the dragons' nest.

"Stay low and ready your weapons," Stoick ordered. Then he looked up at the large mountain, jus in time to see the tip of a dragon's tail disappear into a cavern. "We're here," the chief murmured before he jumped out of the boat and landed on the pebbly beach. Instantly, the warbling of a thousand dragons that had been emanating from all over stopped.

If he found that suspicious, he ignored the feeling. A sense of triumph came over the chief. Finally, after 300 years of searching for this place, they had found it. After 300 years of warring with the dragons, all of that was about to end. But not in the way any of even the bravest and strongest of them could have expected.

* * *

Back in the arena, Hiccup had unlocked the Nightmare and Salamence's cage, and was now directing the dragon over to the other teens. Both of the dragons recognized Hiccup from before, and did not hesitate to follow him.

The other teens watched in wonder, the Pokémon all grouped together. Snotlout was acting a little fidgety, reaching down and picking up a broken spear. Astrid noticed him, and whacked him in the arm. Snotlout looked up at her. Astrid shook her head, silently asking him to drop it. He did.

Hiccup continued to direct the Nightmare toward the others, as the Salamence advanced on Heat. Surprisingly, the Magmar didn't even flinch as the Salamence lifted him up onto its back.

As soon as Hiccup had brought the Nightmare to Snotlout, he reached out and took his hand. Snotlout became rather scared at what Hiccup was doing. "Wait!" he said, voice rising to a shout. "Wait, what are you..."

Hiccup cut him off, violently shushing him. "It's OK," he said, and for reasons of his own, Snotlout allowed him to guide his hand to the Nightmare's snout.

The dragon curiously looked at him and grunted in a friendly way. Snotlout seemed to understand that the dragon wasn't going to kill him, and laughed delightfully.

Just then, Snivels used Vine Whip to grab a length of rope, and hold it up to Snotlout. "What is that?"

Snivels folded his arms across his chest. "You're gonna need something to help you hold on," he said matter-of-factly.

Everyone simultaneously turned to the sound of more doors opening. Verne was standing there, smiling, and there beside him were the other dragons. The Nadder, Zippleback, Gronckle, Flygon, Zweilous, and Sliggoo were all eyeing them curiously, as if wondering which teenager and Pokémon to pair up with.

Hiccup turned to Snivels. "What about you guys?"

Snivels gestured to Verne. "Amber can ride on him," he said, dropping the rope and making his way over to the Speed Stinger duo. "I'll go with these guys."

"You know Speed Stingers can't fly, right?" Snotlout said.

Snivels gave him a 'you-have-no-idea' look. "Yes, but they can run, can't they?" He turned to face the pair. "We're all in the need for some speed," he said.

Raptor then shrieked a battle cry, the rest of the dragons joining in.

"Alright, let's do this," Blaze said determinedly as she mounted the Flygon.

Within moments, everyone was on dragonback. Snivels smiled as he settled into a comfortable position on Raptor. He cast a glance back at the others. " _Sigan sentados, por favor._ "

Blaze looked at him skeptically. "Are you speaking Spani-?"

She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence as all the dragons took off out of the arena, with the Speed Stingers running below.

Fishlegs cried out as he nearly fell off the Gronckle. "Are you sure this will work?"

Snivels turned to look up at them, a calm and assuring smile on his face.

"We'll never know unless we try!"

* * *

 **"Sigan sentados, por favor" is Spanish for "stay seated, please." Pretty good advice to follow when riding on a dragon for the first time, right?**

 **The next chapter will be the battle, obviously.**

 **Review, follow, or favorite!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Ultimate Sacrifice

 **The final battle with the Red Death. Wish I could say more.**

* * *

The first hour or so on Dragon Island went by slowly. Although the Vikings and Pokémon all thought that they'd win easily, they knew that it didn't pay to go into a battle unprepared, especially when they were given the luxury of setting up camp literally right next to the battlefield.

They had taken out every last bit of supplies that they had brought, and along with weapons, they had the material to make catapults. They had also taken a lot of logs and sharpened them into spears, to use when needed.

A small group of Vikings was gathered around Stoick, who was drawing a battle plan in the dirt. "When we crack open this mountain, all heck is going to break loose."

Only he didn't say "heck."

Again, Gobber tried to relieve the tension. "In my undies. Good thing I brought extras."

Stoick ignored that comment. "No matter how this ends, it ends today!" With a single hand signal, the catapults launched heavy rocks at the nest, breaking it open. The chief stepped into the mountain, finding only darkness. He signaled for another catapult to fire. This one had a rock wrapped in ropes, which was set ablaze before it was fired into the hole, illuminating the inside of the nest, revealing hundreds of dragons inside.

Startled by the battle cry of the tribe of Vikings and Pokémon, the dragons all flew out of the nest, avoiding the swinging weapons of the Vikings and the attacks the Pokémon launched. They all retreated from the nest, seeking refuge in the skies. Toothless warbled worriedly as he watched them all depart.

"Is that it?" Gobber asked with a shrug. All of the Vikings were confused with the dragons' sudden departure, but they pushed that thought aside as they celebrated their supposed victory.

But Stoick heard Toothless struggling from afar and realized that something was not right. "This isn't over!" he yelled, putting a halt to the celebration. "Form yours ranks! Hold together!"

A loud cracking sound that came from deep within the nest increased in volume as the gigantic creature within started clawing her way out. A deafening roar made the entire island shake.

"Get clear!" Stoick ordered over the noise, making a hasty retreat himself.

Rocks and boulders broke off of the mountain as the Red Death's head emerged from underneath. Soon the rest of her followed, towering over all the beings who had dared to disturb her.

"Beard of Thor," gasped Gobber, "What is that?!"

Stoick stared wide-eyed at the behemoth he'd unintentionally released. "Odin, help us," was his whispered plea.

The Red Death released a might bellowing roar that made even the biggest and strongest Vikings trembling with fear. Or was that the ground that was shaking?

Over the deafening noise of the Red Death's roar, Stoick shouted out orders. The catapults fired, but were nothing more than small pebbles to the Red Death. The great beast chomped on one of the catapults, destroying it completely. The Vikings and Pokémon started to retreat, but the Red Death set fire to their ships with a powerful blast of its fire breath.

"Smart, that one," Gobber admitted, to both himself and the chief.

Stoick shook his head. There was no way to escape. "I was a fool," he muttered under his breath. Then, he shouted to Spitelout, "Lead the men to the far side of the island!" Spitelout nodded, leading the tribe elsewhere.

"We'll stay with you," Gobber said, "Just in case you're thinking of doing something crazy."

Stoick turned and locked eyes with him. "Brumous and I can buy them a few minutes if we give that thing someone to hunt!" he said fiercely.

But Gobber took his hand and clasped it in his own. "Then we can double that time," he said loyally, and for the first time in a while, Stoick smiled.

"Here!" Stoick called up to the Red Death.

"Oh, no, here!" Gobber called, limping up to it from a slightly different direction.

Stoick tore one of the sharpened logs out of the ground and hurled it like a javelin with all of his might, and it succeeded in hitting the giant dragon in the face. His Beartic partner then fired an Ice Beam, attacking the titan. The monster stopped its assault and glared down at them.

"Fight me!" yelled Gobber, raising his hammer.

"No, me!" Stoick called from the other side of its head. The dragon rose up slightly on its hind legs and snarled, green gas forming at the back of its throat as it prepared to finish them off with one blast of fire.

Just then, a ball of flame and a Dragon Breath attack impacted solidly against the Red Death's head and exploded, effectively stopping its attack.

As Stoick watched, Hiccup and the others appeared, all riding on dragonback. "Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs!" Hiccup yelled as they flew past the giant dragon's head, now perfectly visible to the Vikings, now standing there watching them, muttering to themselves in disbelief.

"Look at us!" Snotlout called to the assembled Vikings below. "We're on dragons, all of us!"

Hiccup shook his head as their formation circled around the Red Death, who was now flinging ships around and chomping at whomever drew its attention. "Fishlegs, break it down for us," Hiccup told Fishlegs, who knew dragons better than any of them - besides Snivels.

"OK," he began, "Heavily armored skull and tail made for bashing and crushing. Steer clear of both! Small eyes and large nostrils – relies on hearing and smell."

Hiccup nodded to him and began giving orders. "Alright, we'll split up. Lout, Legs, keep it nice and distracted. Make some noise and keep it confused. Tuff, Ruff, find out if it has a shot limit. Make it _mad_."

Ruff drew herself up proudly. "That's my specialty," she bragged, and of course Tuffnut had to contradict her. "Since when? Everyone knows that _I'm_ more irritating. See?" He pulled a rude face and flipped his Zippleback head upside down.

Behind them, the Nidos were with the Zweilous on the Zippleback. " _Are zey alvays zis annoying?_ " one of the Zweilous heads asked. The Nidos shrugged.

"Just do as I told you!" Hiccup said, exasperated, "I'll be back as soon as I can!" He steered the Nadder away and over the flaming ships bobbing freely in the water with Blaze following them, riding on top of the Flygon.

At the same time, Snivels arrived on Raptor, with Streak not far behind. Unlike most Speed Stingers, this duo had evolved a way to run across the water - webbing that stretched between the claws on their feet, allowing them to skim the water like a Basilisk lizard.

As Snivels and the Speed Stingers advanced on the Red Death, the Zippleback circled the giant's head. The twins, and their partners, were doing what they were instructed to do.

"Troll!"

"Butt-elf!"

"Bride of Grendel!"

The Red Death probably didn't understand the words, but it did understand the meaning. It shot a short burst of fire their way, and when they dodged, it shot another. They just barely dodged that one as well.

Meanwhile, Snotlout and Fishlegs hovered on their dragons, taking up positions on either side of the Red Death's head. "Um, this thing doesn't have a blind spot!" Fishlegs shouted for whatever reason.

Snivels, Raptor, and Streak attacked from below, the two Speed Stingers stinging the Red Death over and over with their poisonous stingers. The attack did very little damage, but Snivels knew that, although it would take a while, the paralyzing venom would eventually take effect.

Verne circled above with Amber riding on his back. Both Pokémon launched their strongest attacks, with Amber using Flamethrower and Verne using Air Slash. Unfortunately, the pair was forced to retreat to safety far on the shores when they realized their attacks had barely left a scratch on the queen's scales.

Hiccup continued to search for Toothless. He heard a roar, and looking toward the sound he found Toothless struggling to free himself from the chains that held him prisoner upon one of the flaming ships.

The Deadly Nadder flew over the burning boat. Once they were close enough, Hiccup leapt off of the Nadder's back and landed smoothly on the deck. "Go help the others!" he called to Astrid, and she took the rope in her hands and steered the Nadder into battle.

Hiccup was left alone to save Toothless. If he could save him.

Meanwhile, the noise that Fishlegs and Snotlout had been making had confused their dragons, causing the Nightmare to crash into the Red Death's head, tossing Snotlout onto the giant dragon. The Gronckle spun out of control, causing Fishlegs to toss Snotlout his hammer, shouting for him to do something. The Gronckle crashed on the rocky ground.

Fishlegs, Pad and Sliggoo braced themselves as the Gronckle crashed. "We're okay!" Fishlegs shouted when the Gronckle skidded against the ground. No sooner after he said that, the Gronckle toppled forward, crushing its riders. "Less okay!" came Fishlegs's muffled shout.

Snotlout then started bashing the Red Death in each of its eyes with Fishlegs's hammer. "I can't miss! What's the matter, buddy?" he taunted. "You got something in your eye?" The Red Death's response was a howl of pain.

Astrid flew by, and noticed Snotlout on the Red Death's head. "Yeah, you're the Viking!" she cheered him, one of those rare moments when he actually deserved it.

But a single shake of the Red Death's head caused him to lose his balance and cling to one of its spines for dear life. Salamence noticed, and with Heat on his back, he swooped in to try and save the teen. But the Red Death's constant attacks kept them from getting close enough.

Meanwhile, Hiccup had gotten the muzzle off of Toothless, but he was having a lot of difficulty removing the rest of the restraints. Just then, the Red Death's tail smashed down the mast, which narrowly missed them, and then its foot came plunging down upon the boat, throwing Toothless and Hiccup into the sea.

Toothless sank to the bottom. Hiccup swam after him with desperation. He then resumed trying to remove the restraints, but the lack of energy and air caused him to go limp. Just then, Stoick appeared out of nowhere and pulled Hiccup toward the surface. Both of them were dimly aware of Toothless' roar of anguish as he vanished into the darkness.

Stoick hauled Hiccup up onto the beach and dumped him there. Hiccup spluttered and coughed, lungs aching for the taste of fresh air. He sat up and saw Stoick heading for the water. "Dad?" he asked himself, scarcely able to believe it.

Just before Stoick was about to dive in, Raptor suddenly ran in from out of nowhere, placing himself between the chief and the ocean and hissing angrily. Behind the Speed Stinger, Hiccup saw Snivels dive into the water with barely a splash.

The Snivy quickly swam down to the Night Fury, ignoring the increasing tightness in his lungs as he started running out of air. Snivels and Toothless exchanged knowing stares before Snivels grabbed onto the wooden clamp that was still around Toothless's neck. In one swift movement, the Snivy sliced the wood clean in half with Leaf Blade.

Toothless was finally free.

The Night Fury grabbed Snivels in his claws and burst out of the water, dropping the Snivy on the ground and landing lightly on a flat rock and growling at Hiccup with determination on his face. "You got it, bud," Hiccup murmured, and ran to his side. Hiccup expertly hoisted himself up onto Toothless's back and clicked the stirrup into position. But before they could jump into the sky, Hiccup felt a meaty hand grab his own. Despite the obvious muscle behind it, its touch was deliberately gentle.

It was Stoick. And from the sadness in his eyes, Hiccup knew that he had finally realized the truth. "I'm sorry...for everything," he apologized.

"Yeah, me too," Hiccup murmured back, referring to the entire deception that had led to the mess.

"You don't have to go up there," Stoick said.

Hiccup smiled. "We're Vikings. It's an occupational hazard."

Stoick nodded. "I'm proud to call you my son." He then let go of his son's hand.

Hiccup was nearly speechless. "Thanks, Dad."

Behind Stoick, Snivels grumbled to himself.

Hiccup and Toothless then shot up into the sky.

There was a battle to be won.

* * *

Astrid was the first to notice the dark figure of the Night Fury. "He's up!" she screamed to the others, smiling uncontrollably. From their positions, everyone cheered enthusiastically.

"Get Snotlout out of there!" Astrid instructed Ruff and Tuff, and they jumped to the task.

"I'm on it!" confirmed Ruffnut, and her brother contradicted, "No way, I'm on it first!" They started one of their infamous arguments as their Zippleback flapped determinedly ahead to save Snotlout.

The twins' argument could be heard even by those on the ground. "Jeez, it won't stop!" Snivels shouted in frustration.

As for Snotlout himself, he saw that he'd have to make a desperate gamble to board Barf and Belch, which was flying at a height much too inconvenient for the twins to grab him at. And of course, they didn't notice. Snotlout waited until the last second, and then took a running leap from the Red Death's horn right onto the Zippleback's back.

"Wow, I can't believe that worked!" he said in wonder.

Now the Red Death's attention was on Astrid and the Nadder. The Red Death forcefully inhaled with all its might, the sheer strength of its lungs rapidly drawing them toward its wide-open jaws.

Seeing their current situation, Hiccup steered Toothless toward them. But the Night Fury pulled up as something small and purple darted into their path. Moving at an incredibly fast speed, Verne the Noibat dove down towards the Red Death's head. The Sound Wave Pokémon hadn't been around Hiccup for long, but he knew one thing for certain - the young trainer's soul mate needed help, and fast.

For a brief moment, Astrid thought she saw a little purple comet shooting down towards her before she had to shield her eyes from a sudden light.

A beam of energy slammed into the Red Death like a meteor, a multicolored shockwave radiating some distance from the impact site. The impact itself was so great, it staggered the Red Death.

But it also threw Astrid off of the Nadder's back.

After a few terrifying seconds of falling, Astrid quite suddenly found herself clutched in the talons of a large bat-like creature. A minute later, Verne pulled up so he was flying next to Toothless and Hiccup.

"Did you get her?" Hiccup called desperately.

Verne peered down at his talons in response. Clutched tightly in them was Astrid. She looked up at Hiccup and smiled. Hiccup couldn't help smiling in return. He then steered Toothless into battle, while Verne flew downward and placed Astrid on the ground. The rest of the tribe soon joined them.

Snivels ran in to get a closer look at Verne's new form. Smiling, the Snivy whispered in awe, "Noivern."

Verne crooned proudly.

Stoick started forward, only to be blocked by Blaze. "One more step, and we're feeding you to that thing!" she shouted, pointing at the giant dragon.

"Hiccup needs help!" Stoick protested.

"HELP?!" Snivels repeated in outrage. "I think you've 'helped' QUITE ENOUGH TODAY!"

Stoick couldn't think of a comeback for that. He'd never admit it, not even to himself, but the Snivy was right about that.

* * *

"That thing has wings!" Hiccup said to himself, upon realizing that the immense folds of skin that hung like dark rags at the Red Death's sides were, in fact, wings. "Let's see if she can use them!" The dragon gave an answering growl that clearly expressed his agreement.

Clicking the stirrup into one position, they suddenly pulled up. Toothless sensed what Hiccup was doing, flaring out his wings to help increase the drag. Then, as Hiccup adjusted the tail fin's position, Toothless simultaneously folded his wings and shot downwards like a black arrow.

Their surroundings raced by in a blur as gravity increased our speed, with Toothless' screech becoming increasingly louder as the fire built up in his mouth. At last, with the form of the Red Death growing more distinct the closer they got to her, he released the fireball with one final roar, and this projectile was so powerful that it knocked the monster to the ground with a gargantuan explosion.

"You think that did it?" Hiccup asked Toothless, even though he knew that he wouldn't be able to form a response that he could understand. But nevertheless, Hiccup got his answer a second later, when the smoke and ash produced in the explosion was at its thickest.

A huge, dark shape extended from out of the obscuring smoke, blowing the clouds away. Another one just like it unfolded from the other side of the Red Death, which had righted itself and was just now roaring its anger at Toothless.

Even though Hiccup had been half-expecting this reaction, even he was stunned at the sheer enormity of the beast's wings. They seemed humorously fragile against the monster's sheer bulk, but they beat strongly again and again, lifting the Red Death clear off of the ground. Huge clouds of dust were churned up as she rose ever higher, and she slowly started forward after them.

"Well, she can fly."

The chase was on. Despite the Red Death's slowness, her size ensured that she kept pace with them. They quickly dove into the maze of rock spires that surrounded the volcanic island, hoping that they could confuse her with speed and agility, disappearing and reappearing from behind the rocky towers. But that plan was quickly rendered obsolete – the Red Death simply smashed right through each obstacle with apparently no harm done to herself.

"OK, new plan," Hiccup muttered. "Toothless, time to disappear!" He clicked the stirrup, and they suddenly wheeled up and back, straight past the Red Death's snapping jaws in a taunting maneuver.

Up toward the thick blanket of clouds above they flew, with the Red Death clumsily beating her wings as she followed closely. As Hiccup and Toothless rapidly neared the thick storm clouds that had gathered during the fight, Hiccup began to have doubts that this plan would work.

The dark, black clouds had totally enveloped them, destroying Hiccup's ability to see. Toothless, however, seemed to know exactly where he was going, and that was very helpful.

That was when the Red Death entered the cloudscape behind them, roaring and snapping its jaws. At the last second, Hiccup clicked the stirrup and they shot off in another direction. In less than a minute, they were completely hidden in the clouds.

The Red Death roared repeatedly, expressing her rage and frustration. Hiccup quickly realized just then that they would be able to find her simply by listening for her. The next time she roared, he steered Toothless toward the sound.

They were getting close, and Hiccup could tell when he began to see an area of clouds being churned up by their enemy's massive wings. He gave the signal to fire, and Toothless obliged.

The bolt of fire struck with a sound like a thunderclap. There was an explosion of blue light, and the Red Death bellowed with pain, aiming a stream of fire in the direction that they had come from. But it was much too late – they had already streaked past it and back into the murk.

It was just like the time they flew through the maze of rock all that time ago. Hiccup knew exactly where to steer Toothless just by following the sound of the dragon's voice. Doubling back around, they re-entered the "chamber" where the Red Death still hovered, and shot two more bolts of fire that struck each of her wings.

Again and again they hit their mark, dove back into the clouds, and fled, only to come back around and repeat the process. Time after time the Red Death futilely lashed out with her claws or tail, but always missed.

Several fireballs struck the Red Death's wings, causing her to roar and stagger in flight each time. Finally, she hissed angrily and spewed out a massive stream of flame. Around and around the Red Death twirled, filling the sky with fire. Sooner or later, they'd be caught if they weren't careful.

But as careful as they were, they got caught anyway. The fire almost missed them, but Toothless's prosthetic tail fin was lit aflame. "OK, time's up!" Hiccup yelled to Toothless. "Let's see this works."

Toothless folded his wings and somersaulted in the other direction, back past the Red Death. Diving down, the two friends plunged past her head, with her six eyes blazing with fury and pain. "Is that all you've got?" Hiccup taunted, steering Toothless in a circle around its head. The Night Fury roared, challenging the Red Death to follow.

They dove straight for the ground, with the prosthetic tail still clinging to Toothless' tail. However, the fire was eating away at it surprisingly fast. "Just hang in there, bud! Just a little bit longer!"

The Red Death followed them down, folding her own wings as she plummeted after them. The two friends swerved this way and that, trying to stop the Red Death from using her fire breath until the absolute last second.

Eventually, the time came when the tail became so damaged that it was impossible to turn as sharply. They were forced onto a straight course, and from there, the Red Death would have an easy shot with her fire.

The dragon's eyes narrowed. She was about to fire, and it was now or never. "Hold, Toothless..." Hiccup told him quietly, and he began to ready a fire bolt.

The Red Death inhaled, gas hissing at the back of her throat.

"NOW!" Hiccup shouted, and clicked the stirrup once. Toothless flipped over in flight until he was facing the Red Death's gaping maw. Just before she would have ignited her fire and blasted them with it, Toothless shot a ball of blue fire straight down her throat. The gas exploded and set the inside of her mouth on fire.

The clouds thinned. The island came into view far below. Hiccup urged Toothless on, trying to get him to fly faster. But with a damaged tail and a 100,000 pound monster right behind them, it was easier said than done.

The Red Death's mouth burst with flame as she tried again and again to smite them. But it was useless. The creature's gas reserves were burning out of control, cooking her from the inside. Her underbelly glowed dimly, slowly getting brighter as the flames inside grew more powerful.

Hiccup clicked the stirrup, and miraculously, there was just enough fin left to allow them to alter their position so that they now flew up past the falling behemoth.

The Red Death's eyes widened as she saw how close it was to a crushing impact. Desperately, she spread out her wings in order to slow her fall, but it was no use. Her sheer speed caused the wind to rip her wings apart.

The Red Death tried to roar one last time, but the Speed Stingers' paralyzing venom finally took effect. She could do nothing as she hit the ground with earthquake force, and the impact with the ground was the crucial blow. Flames erupted from inside of the massive dragon, causing her to literally explode.

Hiccup could feel the heat on the back of his neck as he and Toothless raced up the length of the dragon's tail, desperately trying to outrace the fire. They were almost there – but wait. The Red Death's tail was heading right towards them! Hiccup tried to adjust the tail fin one last time, but the contraption, so burnt up that it was a mere skeleton of its former self, fell off. Toothless was completely powerless to avoid the falling tail.

"NO!" Hiccup screamed, and the tail smashed right into Toothless with incredible strength. As the two of them fell down into the flames, Toothless desperately tried to save his friend.

That was all Hiccup could remember as he blacked out.

* * *

 **I always imagined Deino and its evolutions having German accents.**

 **Anyway, the battle ended with a bang, literally.**

 **Review, follow, and favorite.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14: New Dawn

 **The end of the war, and a few added scenes.**

* * *

Two figures watched the battle far up above. Both were quadrupedal, but one was white while the other was a light golden yellow.

They were none other than Arceus, the Guardians of the Multiverse. The white Alpha Pokémon was sitting tall and proud atop his Multiversal Throne, from which he could see all that was going on throughout every universe in existence. "For the past three hundred years, those dragons and Pokémon have been trapped in a war that has torn them all apart."

"They're lucky their world has such pure souls," said the golden one. "But Archon, aren't there always enemies who seek to destroy that?"

Archon gestured to the battle below them. They could see the Night Fury and his rider puncturing holes in the Red Death's wings. "The brightest days can be darkened by the oncoming storm," he said. "But it also works the other way around. No matter the amount of darkness, the light will always shine its way through in the end. I doubt it will be any different for this universe, Archia."

Archia looked up at her mate. "Yet another reason why I'm glad there's more than just one of our kind," she said. "It would be very lonely out here without anyone to talk to. Of course, one can only assume."

Archon nodded before leaning over to watch as the Red Death exploded, and both the Night Fury and his rider fell into the flames below. " _Protect the light,_ " he said to Toothless, telepathically. Hearing him, Toothless tried to save his friend as the flames engulfed them.

* * *

The flames finally ceased, and were replaced with a thick cloud of ash and smoke.

The three-hundred year war was finally over, but what was the price of the victory?

A small group of individuals called Hiccup's name through the cloud of grey - a mighty Viking chief, a talented shieldmaiden, and a Grass-type Pokémon prince.

Snivels couldn't see through the cloud, so he found his way by smell. His strong nose caught the scent of a fallen dragon, one that was injured and fading in and out of consciousness.

Toothless!

It didn't take Snivels long to find the Night Fury, but how would everyone else find him, too? He needed some kind of signal, one that could be seen through all the smoke and ash.

His eyes lighting up with a sudden idea, Snivels adjusted his tail to catch the thin rays of sunlight that were just peeking through from overhead. Absorbing the light through his tail, Snivels charged up the energy, which took the form of a glowing orb of sunlight above his head. As soon as the sunlight was fully charged, Snivels unleashed it up toward the sky in the form of a powerful beam of light.

A Solar Beam.

Just as Snivels had hoped, the light pierced through the cloud, and the sounds of footsteps rapidly approaching his location brought a relieved smile to the Snivy's face. He held on to that smile as the energy from his new, powerful move dispersed.

Stoick ran ahead of all of them the moment he saw the downed Night Fury. There was no sign of Hiccup on the saddle, or anywhere near the dragon. Toothless stirred, rolling over a bit to reveal that his makeshift tail fin was completely gone. Disintegrated into ash.

Brumous soon ran to join his master, but froze at the sight before them. Stoick fell to his knees, muttering somewhat of an apology. "Oh, son. I did this."

Snivels wanted to say something in agreement, but not only was it not the best time, he couldn't really find the words. Hiccup was the first person he had trusted in a long time, and now that he was most likely dead, the Snivy felt lost and alone once more.

Astrid and Blaze pushed their way through the crowd that had gathered, desperately trying to see what had happened. They stopped when they realized that there was no sign of Hiccup. The Combusken pretended not to notice, but she could see tears welling up in Astrid's eyes.

The dragons and Dragon-type Pokémon that had participated in the battle also stared at the sight before them. Verne lowered himself to the ground and bowed his head in respect and sorrow.

It was at that moment that Toothless woke up. The first thing he saw was Stoick kneeling in front of him.

"Oh, son," moaned the chief. "I'm so sorry."

Toothless blinked and then slowly opened his wings, which were folded across his body, to reveal the lifeless body of...

"Hiccup!"

Stoick took his son from the dragon's claws and examined him. Snivels found the answer to the unasked question before the chief did, his nose catching an unmistakable scent. The Snivy's eyes went wide and he ran right back to his friends just as Stoick took off his helmet and pressed his ear to Hiccup's chest. Snivels stopped right in front of Blaze, their spirits lifting even before the chief spoke.

"He's alive! You brought him back alive!"

Vikings, dragons, and Pokémon alike all cheered. Overjoyed, Snivels hugged Amber tightly. Smiling, Blaze looked up at Astrid, who looked happier than ever. The dragons were all roaring triumphantly, their partners even shooting off an attack or two in celebration.

Stoick didn't hesitate to place his hand on Toothless's snout. "Thank you for saving my son."

Then Gobber limped up beside Stoick, with Norward hovering not far behind. The two-limbed Viking looked at Hiccup, and shrugged. "Well, you know, most of him."

* * *

It took a long time for the entire tribe to get back to Berk, but it might have taken even longer than that for everyone to process the extent Hiccup's condition. No one was affected more so than Hiccup's friends.

Even Astrid.

Ever since the flight she had with Hiccup, she found that her feelings for him had kept growing. Being the greatest warrior and Pokémon trainer in the entire archipelago meant nothing to her now. Her only concern was for Hiccup.

She had gone to the clearing in the woods where she practiced her axe-throwing, but this time, she didn't have any weapons. And as quiet as the forest seemed to be, she wasn't really as alone as she thought.

A green gecko-like Pokémon stared down at her from up in the trees, slowly making her way down to get a closer look. Astrid didn't have to look up at it to know it was a Treecko, they were very easy to find in forests just like this one.

"I see you've met one of my friends," said a voice.

Astrid had expected Blaze, but it turned out the Combusken wasn't alone. Snivels, Amber and Verne had also come to the clearing.

"Your friends?" the trainer repeated.

Blaze strutted over to the tree and waved at the Treecko. The Wood Gecko Pokémon recognized it as a sign to come down. She scaled down the tree with ease, stopping right at the Combusken's feet. "Her name is Xylia," explained Blaze. "We met while I was resting after training. Where are Palus and Wavern?" She directed that question at Xylia, who shrugged.

As if on cue, a little blue mudpuppy popped its head right out of a nearby pond, and a pale purple bat swooped in from below and landed on a low-hanging tree branch.

"These are your friends?" asked an intrigued Snivels.

An equally interested Verne leaned forward to sniff the Noibat, who sniffed the Noivern in return. It was no question those two would easily get along with one another.

"I had to cope with all of the expectations and intense training somehow," said Blaze, reaching down to pat the Mudkip on the head. "I found having friends to confide in helped me with it quite a lot. I would have introduced you guys to each other a lot sooner if it wasn't for all the chaos happening around us."

As the Combusken spoke, Astrid quietly and carefully approached the branch upon which the Noibat was perched. Reaching a hand out, she scratched the Sound Wave Pokémon's furry cheek, prompting a contented croon from the adorable Dragon-type.

"So, what are you guys doing out here, exactly?" she asked. She meant for her tone to be accusing, but the look Wavern the Noibat was giving her softened it down to curiosity.

"Looking for you," was Blaze's answer. "You've been acting quite unlike yourself since we got back."

All they got, initially, was a good view of Astrid's back when she turned away. But then, she deflated and turned back around to face the group, saying, "I'm really worried about Hiccup."

"We all are," Snivels reminded her. "But, really, it could have been a lot worse."

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way," said Blaze, "But I'm glad you're worried about him. No offense, but you were acting a lot like, a kind word would be, a headache. Or, in Hiccup's case, a shoulder-ache." She chuckled quietly at her own joke.

"Some of us are taking it harder," said Snivels. "Toothless is just sitting near the bedside, we can't get him to move for anything. I know I could never stay sitting still for as long as he can. You can go ahead and deal with it the way you want to, but just keep in mind we're all here for you when you need us. Me, Blaze, Amber, Verne, Toothless and Stormfly."

"Stormfly?" Astrid repeated in confusion.

"That's the Deadly Nadder's name," Snivels explained. "You know, the one you flew on to the dragons' nest." He then shifted nervously. "I'd assumed this was true, but this time I'll ask. Do you love Hiccup?"

Astrid thought long and hard about the question he had asked her, unsure of whether or not she should answer honestly. Finally, she replied, "I do love him." Then she glared at him warningly. "But if any of you so much as mention it to anyone else..."

"You have our word," Snivels said quickly, and with every ounce of honesty he had. "Just promise you'll keep being more open to your friends." He then turned to the other Pokémon and said, "We should get back to the forge. There's still a lot of work we need to do."

The group started off, with three extra Pokémon than when they had arrived. Blaze looked over her shoulder at her trainer, who was still standing in the clearing, and called, "You coming?"

For the first time that night, Astrid smiled. "Yeah," she said, "I am."

* * *

Days went by, and nearly everyone was getting impatient, waiting for Hiccup to awaken. And no one was more impatient than Toothless. The dragon refused to leave his friend's bedside, and he hadn't eaten or slept in days. Anyone would know better than to disturb the impatient Night Fury.

It was nearly three weeks after the war had ended, and Toothless didn't think he could wait any longer. He sniffed Hiccup's unconscious form, and warbled.

That was when Hiccup's eyes opened.

Happy to see his friend awake at last, Toothless nuzzled him. Hiccup smiled and lifted a hand to pat Toothless's snout. "Hey, Toothless," he rasped. The joyful Night Fury nuzzled his friend more eagerly harder. "Yeah, I'm happy to see you, too," Hiccup said, trying to keep the dragon from pushing him off the bed. Then Toothless accidentally stepped on Hiccup's stomach.

"OW!"

Hiccup immediately sat up, doubling over in pain. That's when he noticed where he was. "Uh, I'm in my house." He looked back at Toothless, who was nervously fidgeting. "Uh, you're in my house!" No longer able to contain his excitement, Toothless bounded all over the room. A confused Hiccup called after him, "Does my dad know you're in here?"

Toothless then bounded back over to Hiccup and sniffed him. Then the dragon jumped up and perched on the rafters. "Toothless, come on!" Hiccup said in frustration. He started to get up, when he felt something. Something different. He lifted the blanket and looked at himself. Toothless jumped down from the rafters and started to approach his friend. Hiccup was speechless as he examined his condition.

He hadn't gotten through the battle on Dragon Island unscathed after all - half of his lower left leg was gone, replaced by a spring-loaded, metal prosthetic.

Hiccup stared at his prosthetic in horror for a few seconds, then tried getting out of bed. He took a step, and stumbled a little. Pausing, he took a deep breath before taking another step. This time, he started to fall, but Toothless caught him.

"Thanks, bud," whispered Hiccup weakly. With the Night Fury's help, he managed to limp across the room and open the door.

But suddenly, a Monstrous Nightmare greeted him outside, and Hiccup instinctively slammed the door shut in fear. "Toothless, stay here," he ordered, and gingerly opened the door again.

This time, he noticed that the Nightmare had Snotlout riding on its back. As they flew off, Salamence followed, with Heat riding on his back.

The sight that met Hiccup's eyes was one he couldn't believe - the sight of Vikings, Pokémon, and dragons living in peace and harmony in his own village. The houses of Berk had Deadly Nadders perching on them, and the central torches had been lowered to provide a massive seafood bonfire buffet for hungry dragons of all shapes and sizes.

"I knew it," Hiccup said to himself, numb with shock and awe. "I'm dead."

Stoick and Brumous were suddenly there, the chief patting his shoulder. "No, but you gave it your best shot," he said. He then gestured to the scene ahead of them. "So, what do you think?"

It was then that the others in the village noticed that Hiccup was awake and rushed over to meet him. Stoick pushed his way to the front of the crowd and told his son, in a voice almost too choked with emotion to speak, "Turns out, all we needed was a little more of...this."

"You just gestured to all of me," Hiccup said incredulously, looking at his father's outstretched hand.

All of a sudden, Gobber and Norward were there. "Well, most of you," said the blacksmith, pointing to the young trainer's prosthetic. "That there was made by your partner. And I gotta say, he sure knows how to make a good leg. Think it'll do?"

Hiccup looked at his prosthetic. It was hard to believe that Snivels had made it. He shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I might make a few tweaks." That made everyone chuckle.

And then came a savage punch to his shoulder, making him stumble and cry out in surprise. Hiccup turned around to see none other than Astrid. "That's for scaring me," she said, matter-of-factly.

Hiccup's surprise turned into annoyance as he stuttered, "Wha-what? Is it always going to be this way? 'Cause..." He didn't get the chance to finish before Astrid grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. It was short, but loving, and the message was clear: _That's for everything else._

Astrid pulled away after what was only about two seconds, but to Hiccup, it seemed to last an eternity. Momentarily speechless, he finished, "I could get used to it." That comment earned him a smile from her.

"Ahem."

Everyone collectively turned to see both Snivels and Blaze standing nearby, each of them wearing a smug grin. The entire company of their Pokémon friends stood behind them with equally smug expressions. The only word Hiccup could manage to say in response to the looks they were giving him was, "What?"

"If you don't know already," Snivels said, "Then you're probably more dense than I thought you were."

Blaze laughed. "Well, he is a guy, so..."

Hiccup didn't have any idea what Snivels and Blaze meant, it was easy to read that in his expression. "I know what you're thinking," Snivels said to his friend, "'What are you guys talking about?' Well, maybe you could ask her." He pointed to Astrid, and just like that, all eyes were on her.

Well aware that the upcoming discussion would be more comfortable in private, Blaze nudged Verne's side to get his attention. The Noivern lowered his head to her level, awaiting orders. Pointing at the Vikings that had gathered around, Blaze requested, "Verne, could you...?"

The Sound Wave Pokémon quickly got the idea and charged at the crowd, screeching and lashing his tail to scare them all away. The commotion attracted Toothless, who had been waiting obediently inside the house, and the Night Fury bounded out to join in, thinking it was a game.

All the Vikings scattered to avoid the two dragons, racking their brains trying to figure out what was bringing on this sudden behavior. Any that tried to sneak past would jolt right back when Toothless or Verne snapped their jaws at them.

One the Noivern was sure that Toothless had it under control, he strut over to where the pair of teenaged trainers were standing, now as alone as they could get in a public area. He then sat down, folding his wings around them so they could hide from the watchful eyes of the Vikings.

It was now or never.

From the look on Astrid's face, Hiccup was obviously expecting some of the worst. So it was a total surprise to him when her expression softened as she reached out and took his hand.

"Don't tell anyone I said this," Astrid whispered, "But I've realized that you're more than just a friend to me." She didn't want anyone else to hear, this was just between her and Hiccup, no one else. "After the flight, I realized that I was feeling something I never felt before. I didn't understand what it was at first, but I wanted to know more. You weren't who I thought you were, and you showed me something I could never have imagined. And when I saw you go down in battle, I thought that I'd never get the chance to tell you that..."

She trailed off. Was she really going to say it? Now, with everyone staring at them? There was still a chance they could hear her, and if they did, she'd never hear the end of it, especially from Snivels and Blaze. Making her decision, and knowing that Hiccup was still waiting for her to finish, Astrid leaned in until her mouth was next to his ear.

"I love you."

Hiccup's eyes widened at what he had heard. Astrid Hofferson, the toughest and most beautiful girl on Berk, _loved_ him? Unsure of what to think, he turned to Snivels and Blaze. The two Pokémon could somehow tell from the look on his face what Astrid had just said to him. They both nodded.

Feeling a sudden urge of confidence, Hiccup brought Astrid into a hug. "I love you, too," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear him.

Astrid smiled. "I know."

After a long, tender moment, there was suddenly two flashes of bright blue light. Astrid and Hiccup both pulled out of the hug and turned to Snivels and Blaze, but they were blinded by the bright light. Everyone's attention was on the two Pokémon, although very few of them could see what was going on.

After about a minute, the lights faded, and the sight that met everyone's eyes was almost unbelievable.

Where a Snivy and a Combusken once stood, there was now a Servine and a Blaziken.

Blaze looked down at her hands and gasped. They resembled a bird's talons. She then grabbed at some of the fur, or feathers, or whatever they were, that covered nearly her entire body. They were a mix of red and yellow, with a hint of orange.

Snivels, meanwhile, turned and lifted his tail to examine it. It was longer than it had been when he was a Snivy, and there were three leaves on it instead of just one. One on the end of his tail, and two that were positioned further up.

"Wow," Blaze said in awe.

"I know," Snivels said in excitement, "I mean, the two of us evolving at the same time? This is so cool!" They both turned to look at their trainers, who wore matching expressions of surprise and awe.

For a minute, they were all speechless, but Snivels's eyes suddenly lit up. He then rushed off, moving faster than he had been before. He then returned a minute later holding some equipment in his arms. "Before I forget," he said, walking up to Hiccup and handing him the stuff, "We made these for you and Toothless." He then grabbed one of the items and held it up.

It was a new tail fin for Toothless.

"We tried to keep it as close to the original as possible," the newly-evolved Servine explained. "And we all agreed that if we're going to be an official team, we're gonna need a team name."

"We should be Team Awesomeness," Blaze suggested, though the smile on her face stated that she was joking.

"Team Salvation?" said Amber.

Snivels laughed. "That's a little too grandiose for even my taste." He looked thoughtful for a moment before offering his suggestion. "What about Team Go-Getters?"

Hiccup hadn't heard the phrase 'go-getter' very often, but that didn't mean he didn't know what it meant. Energetic, determined to succeed, able to deal with new or difficult situations with ease.

Just like them, when they had flown into battle on Dragon Island.

There were so many things he wanted to say to all the friends he had made, he didn't know where to start. So, he settled with, "I can't believe you guys did all of this." There so much gratitude in his voice, it nearly made him choke.

"That's what families do," said a smiling Blaze, "They look out for each other."

There was a moment of silence before Snivels said, "I don't know about you guys, but we are the weirdest family I have ever heard of!"

That got the whole team laughing.

Without any hesitation, Hiccup walked up to Toothless, and was about to get a knife to cut the ropes that held the equipment together, when Snivels walked up to him. "I can get that," he said. His leafy hand then glowed a light blue, and he used it to slice through all the ropes completely.

Snivels had learned how to use Cut.

Satisfied, Hiccup patted Snivels on the head. "Thanks, Snivs." Snivels just smiled before running over and jumping onto Verne's back with childlike eagerness.

After the saddle, tail fin, and riding gear were all in place, Hiccup tested out the new tail fin with the new stirrup, which was designed to click his prosthetic in place. He turned to see Astrid beside him on Stormfly, and Blaze trying to balance herself on the Flygon.

It was then that Team Go-Getters all took off on their dragons, soaring into the wide open sky that was waiting for them.

* * *

 _This is Berk._

 _It snows nine months of the year, and hails the other three. The food that grows here is tough and tasteless. Most of the people and Pokémon that grow here are even more so._

 _The only upsides are the pets._

 _While other places have ponies, or parrots, we have..._

 _...Dragons._

* * *

 **Next time...A new beginning!**

* * *

 **Didn't expect that, didja? A double evolution! I'll be waiting in case Cottonmouth25 has a review to give for this chapter. If anyone else wants to review, follow, or favorite, then you may do so!**

 **This isn't the end! Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


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